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The Pledge of Allegiance
Barack Obama was heckled by a crazy bystander for not beginning a speech with the pledge of allegiance. He handled the event gracefully (video here along with cogent commentary by Matt Welch.) As I've written before, I think the pledge is creepy.
Cato's Gene Healy says it well:
From its inception, in 1892, the Pledge has been a slavish ritual of devotion to the state, wholly inappropriate for a free people. It was written by Francis Bellamy, a Christian Socialist pushed out of his post as a Baptist minister for delivering pulpit-pounding sermons on such topics as "Jesus the Socialist." Bellamy was devoted to the ideas of his more-famous cousin Edward Bellamy, author of the 1888 utopian novel Looking Backward. Looking Backward describes the future United States as a regimented worker's paradise where everyone has equal incomes, and men are drafted into the country's "industrial army" at the age of 21, serving in the jobs assigned them by the state...Bellamy's book inspired a movement of "Nationalist Clubs," whose members campaigned for a government takeover of the economy. A few years before he wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, Francis Bellamy became a founding member of Boston's first Nationalist Club....
Bellamy's ritual for honoring the flag was right in step with those other National Socialists. Here's a picture illustrating the recommended salute (which later was to became politically incorrect).
The salute may be gone but the message remains.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on August 8, 2008 at 01:03 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink
Comments
I unreservedly agree with you.
Posted by: meter at Aug 8, 2008 1:12:29 PM
Let's not forget that Bellamy's book had everyone retiring at 45, universal education until 21 and at 24 you could pick whatever career you wanted after serving 3 years in the industrial army and the less desirable jobs required less time working per week. Bellamy certainly overestimated the competency of bureaucracy to pull this whole thing off but Healy makes the vision sound bad when it was quite heavenly. Ironically, sort of, his leftward vision relied on rightward nationalism and basically just takes the socialist utopia of today's armed forces and extended it to the entire nation. You'd do the best you could for the nation simply because you loved the nation, kind of like why people sign up for the armed forces (that and the lifelong pension, early retirement, housing, and health benefits). Hence the creepy pledge.
Posted by: KJ at Aug 8, 2008 1:15:15 PM
The pledge of allegiance has long felt fascistic to me; I haven't said it since the day of the Columbine shootings, when I was compelled to do so by the angry, sometime violent teacher who presided over my eighth grade homeroom and insisted something to the effect that, "it's people like them [the victims of the shootings] that we were saying it for." I would've protested that he couldn't legally order us, but I had once seen the teacher in question violently wrench a student from a cafeteria table during a study hall and slam him into lockers successively as they made their way down the hall, purportedly because the student (victim?) had asked a lunchlady, perhaps somewhat petulantly (as junior high school students might) when the table where he was sitting would be dry (she had recently wiped it with a damp cloth). Suffice it to say, I associate the pledge of allegiance with some unpleasant things.
I really detest the power that simplistic, nationalistic symbols such as the pledge and national anthem possess. I doubt that even the most impassioned and best argued protests against them could persuade many people or resist the brutish cries of the kind, "how can he call himself an American if he won't say the pledge/sing the national anthem/rise for national anthem/salute the flag/et cetera." One of the few things I admired about Barack Obama was that he wore no flag pin, but he gave that up, which is a shame, but too politically prudent for me to hold against him.
Posted by: Paludicola at Aug 8, 2008 1:21:34 PM
The work by Gerhard Casper on the requirement that citizens of the United States forswear allegiance to other sovereigns may be of interest to some readers.
http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2008/08/the-2008-fulton.html
Posted by: Michael F. Martin at Aug 8, 2008 1:40:43 PM
According to the NY Times it wasn't a crazy heckler, it was a freelance reporter with a bizarre question.
"The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was beginning a town-hall style meeting at Baldwin-Wallace College when John Quinn, a freelance photographer on assignment for Bloomberg News, interrupted him by calling on him to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Senator Obama went along and led the crowd through the pledge."
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/one-nations-underguarded-individual/index.html?ref=opinion
Posted by: OneEyedMan at Aug 8, 2008 1:53:58 PM
Since when is it impossible for someone to be a "crazy heckler" and "a freelance reporter" simultaneously?
Posted by: solarjetman at Aug 8, 2008 2:53:11 PM
The salute in question (or one very like it) had a long and distinguished history before the Nazis ruined it for all time. It was the old Roman salute, and the Boy Scouts used it. You can see it depicted (albeit with arms held somewhat lower) in 'The Oath of the Horatii'.
Posted by: bbartlog at Aug 8, 2008 2:54:56 PM
Here's the money quote from Casper's speech (link provided above):
"Nevertheless, whenever possible, government should not send
confusing signals, conflicting messages. It should speak clearly and
forthrightly. Government should also never be found in the proximity
of what might be misunderstood as subornation of perjury or, for that
matter, of its own allegiance. All of this suggests to me that we would
be well advised to eliminate the abjuration element from the oath of
allegiance as reflecting old principles which the nation has outgrown."
Posted by: Michael F. Martin at Aug 8, 2008 2:58:34 PM
I think rational people can accept ancient symbols in a modern society for exactly what they are in the abstract. In my youth, saying the pledge was innocuous enough (we also said the lord's prayer, a psalm, and grace before meals - semi parochial). What has always struck me as ironic is that those who refused to say the pledge more often than not, were characteristically those who shared those very values under which it was conceived and meant to embody. They were of course, I'm sure ignorant of this, as was I at the time, and the refusal to say the pledge was born more out of a reactionary rejection of more amorphous, classically liberal values associated with America to knee-jerk leftists (think the two Naomi's). And so, an admittedly equal reactionary response arose in protest ... reciting the pledge became less about fealty to the state, but a statement of separation from those who hated liberalism. And while much of this was cloaked in symbols and seemingly two-dimensional nationalism, beneath the surface was a subconscious understanding of the underlying acrimonious principles.
Posted by: Cool Cal at Aug 8, 2008 3:15:34 PM
Raised as a Jehovah's Witness (agnostic now), we were forbidden from participating in the pledge. It was considered an act of idolatry. We would stand out of respect, but not recite the words or place our hands over our hearts.
Initially, this position by the Witnesses went before the courts, as members were prosecuted for not taking part. Eventually, the cases were decided in favor of the witnesses, but I don't recall the particulars.
Even so, just being different in this little way (not reciting the words) was enough to make you stand out and incur ridicule from the other kids. This is why I'm so vehemently anti-religion in schools; pro-separation of church and state.
Posted by: Parris Hughes at Aug 8, 2008 3:27:01 PM
Of course I agree with you, and I've long hated how they screwed up the pentameter of The Pledge by inserting "under God" in the early 1950s. But Obama came off mocking it rather than sincere. For whatever reason, this will continue to spin as a lack of patriotism on his part, and Dems are extremely sensitive to that kind of criticism. The staffer who scripts these events and didn't think of that should be in a heap of trouble. If he's going to take a principled stand against it, that's fine, and BTW, I agree with that stand. But if he's not going to take a stand, Americans don't want it mocked or have their patriotism treated as a burden. If every baseball game starts with the Star Spangled Banner, there is no reason why a political rally shouldn't give one minute to the Pledge. Cost of doing business in the political arena.
Posted by: BoscoH at Aug 8, 2008 4:30:14 PM
Swell.
Hitler was a vegetarian, which is why vegans all seem creepy to me.
While we are at it, let's throw the Declaration of Independence into the trash because it was written
by a slave-owner.
Maybe we should get rid of the Bible because it was written by Jews.
On the other hand, Henry Ford was a dreadful anti-Semite, which is why Fords look creepy to me.
Posted by: B.H. at Aug 8, 2008 4:50:37 PM
Obama can't be burdened to make a few moments show pledging support to the government he wants to run, but he is okay pushing many hours of compulsory voluntarism on children.
Posted by: Andrew at Aug 8, 2008 4:52:39 PM
I have never had to say the pledge in a public school... All the public schools I attended (starting in 1980) had long stopped the practice of reciting the pledge in class before I was around. Reciting the pledge was required in the Catholic school I briefly attended.
I also think the pledge of allegiance is a bit creepy and should be abolished in the public schools, where it still exists... however, usually the people who make the loudest fuss against the pledge are knee-jerk hate-filled anti-Americans, and who would gladly require kids to swear allegiance to Marxism or environmentalism or some other ideology of their choosing. The extremist views of the typical people who are against the pledge make it difficult for proud Americans with rational arguments against the pledge to be heard.
But hey, look on the bright side, "The Flag" is a vague enough symbol that you aren't really pledging to anything meaningful. Some people have to pledge their loyal to a very real living monarch and her heirs!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_(Canada)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_%28Australia%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Allegiance_%28New_Zealand%29
Posted by: Rex Rhino at Aug 8, 2008 5:06:58 PM
Obama can't be burdened to make a few moments show pledging support to the government he wants to run, but he is okay pushing many hours of compulsory voluntarism on children.
Obama *CAN* be burdened to make a few moments to pledge support for the government, didn't you watch the video?
And by the way, since when did town hall meetings begin with the Pledge of Allegiance? McCain or Bush don't get heckled when they give speeches and town hall meetings without reciting the pledge.
Hitler was a vegetarian, which is why vegans all seem creepy to me. [...] On the other hand, Henry Ford was a dreadful anti-Semite, which is why Fords look creepy to me
Vegetarianism doesn't have anything to do with genocide, and anti-Semitism doesn't have anything to do with automobiles... but nationalist oaths are very very relevant to the discussion of Socialist Nationalism. Both the Pledge and Socialist Nationalism are political, an automobile or dietary restriction is not political.
Posted by: Rex Rhino at Aug 8, 2008 5:17:45 PM
Okay, Rex, you're right, let me amend myself.
Obama can't be burdened to make a few moments show pledging support to the government he wants to run, until some nut browbeats him into doing it, but he is okay pushing many hours of compulsory voluntarism on children.
Posted by: Andrew at Aug 8, 2008 5:33:37 PM
But, I shouldn't call the guy a nut. Maybe misguided.
Posted by: Andrew at Aug 8, 2008 5:34:27 PM
If you are looking to find how our Founders regarded things like the pledge, Ben Franklin offered a nice quote:
"I have never regarded oaths otherwise than as the last recourse of liars."
Perhaps the Revolution itself is a better example of how our Founders felt about blind loyalty to a state.
I think I would actually enjoy regular public recitations of excerpts from our Declaration of Independence. Our government would probably be much better if, instead of reciting the pledge of allegiance, we instead said:
"Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
The contrast between the pledge and that section is so stark that it pains me.
Posted by: Geoff at Aug 8, 2008 5:53:20 PM
And @ Rex,
"And by the way, since when did town hall meetings begin with the Pledge of Allegiance?"
Every town council meeting I have ever attended began with the pledge (and as a real estate developer, I've had the unfortunate experience of attending dozens of them). I was also made to recite the pledge in public elementary school every day (beginning in 1979).
Posted by: Geoff at Aug 8, 2008 5:55:42 PM
IIRC, Hitler wasn't a vegetarian for moral reasons, he simply had a bad stomach.
Posted by: rmark at Aug 8, 2008 7:55:37 PM
Ahhh!!
At least you have been pledging allegiance to one's own nation. As a child I remember pledging allegiance to the Queen, which even at six years old struck me as odd. The only queen I knew of was the Wife of the deposed Kabaka (King of Baganda), who would tool around Nairobi in an ageing mercedes, after General, Commander, Field Marshall, His Excellence, Idi Amin Dada thought a different socio-political model was better suited to Uganda's future progress.
Suffice it to say, in my only slightly littler brain of the time, I kept expecting to see her in a newer model mercedes any day soon after our daily pledges. It never happened, well not at least until her husband and her moved to London.
It took several more years to realise that the queen in question resided in Buckingham palace. It took a decade of Pan Africanist revolutionary reading to expunge how that made feel after I caught on. And worse, as my son gleefully points out, I am fully yet to recover from the revolutionary gibberish.
be carefull with impressionable minds.
Posted by: nyongesa at Aug 9, 2008 5:10:54 AM
The point of the pledge at school, like the national anthem at baseball games, is to get the crowd to shut up and pay attention for the start of an organized activity. If it's taken as required to prove patriotism, the crowd itself polices it, and you don't need a huge staff. It was a marketing stroke of genius.
John and Ken (KFI Los Angeles) long ago had a nice segment on a girl refusing to say the pledge, which starts slow but gets interesting as angry callers come on; John and Ken taking the girl's side.
real audio June 3, 1998
Posted by: Ron Hardin at Aug 9, 2008 7:50:42 AM
Pseudo-Patriots
copyright Patricia M. Shannon 1996
They say that they are patriots because they love to wave the flag,
but they throw their trash along the road, and pour used oil down the drain.
They say that they are patriots because the pledge they love to say,
but they never bother to turn out the lights when they go home for the day.
How can we be patriots and not do all we can
to protect the earth upon which all our lives depend?
How can we be patriots and not help our fellow men?
What else is a country, but its people and its land?
They say that they are patriots because, they will always choose
to vote to build more prisons, while cutting funding for our schools.
They say that they are patriots, Star Spangled Banner they do sing,
but to their big gas-guzzlers they selfishly do cling.
How can we be patriots and not do all we can
to prevent the earth from turning into barren sands?
How can we be patriots and not lend a helping hand?
What else is a country, but its people and its land?
They say that they are patriots, because it fills them with such glee
to send our young folks overseas to be killed by enemies.
They say that they are patriots, but they would never think
to tutor some poor kids to help them stay out of the clink.
A country's not a piece of cloth, or words we say by rote;
a country's not a song we sing before we watch a sport.
And love's not just a feeling, it's something that we do,
every day, in every way, in everything we choose.
Posted by: Patricia Shannon at Aug 9, 2008 8:55:41 AM
The "Pledge of Allegiance" is not creepy. It is from print world -- not electronic world -- the medium is the message, remember.
In the former print world, nations were one step below God -- in our abstract thinking -- definitely sacred. In TV world, we see nations as physical entities of land and people -- my dog run v. your dog run and you had better stay off my dog run! Definitely lost that sacred -- but not lovin' -- feelin'.
Posted by: Denis Drew at Aug 9, 2008 9:36:50 AM
The "Pledge of Allegiance" is not creepy. It is from print world -- not electronic world -- the medium is the message, remember.
In the former print world, nations were one step below God -- in our abstract thinking -- definitely sacred. In TV world, we see nations as physical entities of land and people -- my dog run v. your dog run and you had better stay off my dog run! Definitely lost that sacred -- but not lovin' -- feelin'.
Posted by: Denis Drew at Aug 9, 2008 9:37:11 AM
