I saw a you tube video a few months ago posted by a German exchange student. She explained that in her country no pledge is given because of their past. The idea of having national pride has become very taboo because of their past and the atrocities committed. They don’t want to become that again…
I think forcing a pledge is ridiculous. You should not force someone to vow or swear anything. What good is swearing on the Bible if the person does not believe in the Bible or God in the first place? Let alone, the Bible says not to swear at all, but to let your yes be yes and your no be no.
James 5: 12
Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’
Matthew 5:34-37
34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
What good is it to give one’s word if the person has no integrity?
And if you threaten their life or well being if they don’t swear, wont they lie to save themselves?
So what do you actually accomplish if someone does not believe the cause is worth giving one’s life for?
And no child should be asked to give their lives for their country so why force a pledge they aren’t mature enough to enforce or confirm? In parralel, there are churches that don’t even let Communion happen until classes are taken and the Communion fully understood. So Who does this serve?
Loyalty must be freely given. Pledges must not be forced if they are to hold any value.
Only Dictator’s and Tyrants force an oath of loyalty to them. Out of some need to feel like they have control over the masses. And that is not what the United States of America originally was.
Besides, God comes first. Above all else.
If we want students to care about their nation, we should show them why it is important to care about the land where they live. And what it means for Amrica to lose its many freedoms. We should show them what people go through in those nations where Oppressors terrorize their people. So afraid that they can never say one cross word against anything or anyone. Never complain because people and cameras are always watching. Never able to worship God as they choose. Always having to walk the line.
When someone realizes what they would lose to live elsewhere, they would think twice before allowing their nation to fall to such a state.
“When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”
