For a group of citizens to willingly pledge their allegiance to the nation in which they reside is a wonderfull thing. Nationalism/patriotism strengthens a country's economy and helps form a nice and productive environment for it's inhabitants. But when an enourmous group of people are forced to pledge their allegiance to that nation, sometimes without even being aware that they are doing so, it changes from a beneficial act of nationalism to a thoughtless repitition of meanlinglessness.

So, why bother? Should we say The Pledge of Allegiance? It depends, if you honestly know what you are saying when you recite the "Pledge", and you agree with what you are saying, then please do. But if you either don't know what you are saying, or don't mean what you are saying, then save yourself the breath and abstain.

For a country that values freedom (in all it's myriad of forms) to "brainwash" it's children is wrong. Every time some little child stands up, holds their hand on their heart (or some approximation thereof), and says, "I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" that child is unconsciously pledging their allegiance to the U.S. How many third grade students do you know who really understand the full implications of this? How many ninth grade students do you know really understand the full implications of this? Scary thought isn't it.

Before any person is ever asked to recite such a pledge, they should be taught the meaning of what it is they are saying. And until they fully understand, they should not be forced -- no they should not even be allowed to recite a pledge such as the one currently instituted. Because if such a pledge is recited without knowledge of the full meaning, then it is intrinsically worthless.

As to the questions of how often should a pledge be recited, assuming it should be recited at all, well that depends. A person that understands the pledge and agrees with what it states should be allowed to recite it whenever they please. If this pledge were said with honesty, sincerity, understanding, and meaning, then it wouldn't need to be said daily. Realistically it would only need to be said once in a lifetime, unless of course that opinion changed at a later time.

Personally I abstain from reciting The Pledge of Allegiance for many reasons. At first it was because I was uncertain as to what I was saying and I had recently immigrated from Norway and was unsure if this was a proper thing for me to be saying. I felt awkward saying for many of the same reasons I felt awkward singing many of the songs a child sings in elementary school. Songs about "our fore-fathers the pilgrims" and all that -- because my fore-fathers weren't pilgrims. They weren't even English. My uncertainness of the pledge soon grew into an informed refusal because of much more political and economical reasons (ok well it was 5 years later). I saw that the "Pledge" had little or no meaning to most of the students around me and I was sickened by it. "Don't say something you don't mean" has been one of my mottos (perhaps one I should follow more) for a long time and I stand by it as good advice.

Though it is possible to go on nearly for eternity on a subject such as "should we or should we not recite the pledge of allegiance? etc etc" I am going to come to a screeching, grinding halt because of the fact that really nothing more I say will sway your opinion if it hasn't already. You will continue to blindly say the pledge or you will take to heart what I have already said and perhaps think a little more about what you are saying. Either way, life goes on and the pledge will continue to be blindly fed to us as children and we will continue to say it until we either graduate high school or finally figure it out on our own. Just take a little advice, stop and think about what you are saying, or you may make a fool of yourself. Gasp! Perhaps you already have?