I prefer "This Land Is Your Land," but that's the hippie commie in me.

I prefer "This Land Is Your Land," but that's the hippie commie in me.

Yes! Especially this verse:

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

I love the national anthem because it's so bloodthirsty.

You should move to France! Bloody flags, cutting throats, tigers ripping mothers' breasts, impure blood, coffins--it has it all!

I know most teachers don't have a problem with kids who abstain, but the idea that kids should have to prove their patriotism before they can start learning is...creepy.

When I was in high school, there was one time that there was some law passed or Supreme Court decision or something that I really didn't like (something to do with free speech on the internet? Maybe? This would have been the 1996-1997 school year), and for the next few days, I didn't stand for the pledge. (I'm kind of embarrassed that I can't even remember what was so important to me at 16.) Anyway, it was first period English, and a bunch of the other kids started shouting stuff at me like, "What are you, some kind of Muslim?" (Not entirely sure where that came from.) The teacher made a half-hearted effort to stop them, then told me that I should just stand up so that they wouldn't bother me.

The pledge in my high school was recited over the loudspeaker by a student, and everyone in class was supposed to stand up and say it along with that person. Sometimes it was a student who'd just won some award or something, but other times it was just whoever was out in the hallway when the principal went looking for someone to say it. There were at least a few people who left out the "Under G-d" part -- if they paused to let other people say it, nobody minded (or even really noticed), but if they just went right through it, people would get all out of rhythm and confused.

Thanks, y'all. The reason I asked is because my feelings are pretty much:

Also, making kids stand and recite a loyalty oath every morning is like, Hello Red China!

and

I also think it's weird to pledge allegiance to a flag first, not to the ideals of the country. I think there's something beautifully medieval about the idea of a allegiance, implying a liege lord.

and

This, pretty much. I know most teachers don't have a problem with kids who abstain, but the idea that kids should have to prove their patriotism before they can start learning is...creepy

Also, it seems to me to be MORE American to choose whether or not you say it. Freedom and all that.

But, I know many people who feel if you don't recite it then you're not a good American and you're not patriotic and all that vitriol.

A friend posted on his FB about how the Pledge is not even said in schools anymore and how horrible is that? However, every single school I've been in over the past 7 years has said the Pledge every morning, including my current one.

I do require my students to stand quietly, but whether or not they say the Pledge is totally up to them. Frankly, I find the whole loyalty oath to a piece of fabric off-putting and unAmerican.

We totally said the Pledge and then sang My Country Tis of Thee when I was little. Except for one Indian kid and one Jehovah's witness who just had to stand up respectfully but not actually pledge.

Our health care system seems to exist in a state of cognitive dissonance. One the one hand, there is certainly a belief that we shouldn't just let people die because they can't pay, hence you will get treatment at an emergency room if it's a serious condition and go bankrupt, but there is also a belief that it should be a free market system.

I'm still appalled that the Obama administration didn't seem to even try to make a moral argument for reforming health-care. Also where was the argument that health care availability is a huge obstacle for entrepreneurs? I think public sector health-care would be great for the kind of small business creation everybody talks about wanting.

There was a Jehovah's Witness girl in my sister's class who would step outside the classroom when the rest of the class said the pledge. She also had to go to the library when there were birthday parties in class.

I think public sector health-care would be great for the kind of small business creation everybody talks about wanting.

I'm pretty sure you only think that because you're a socialist.

I love the national anthem because of the story: Francis Scott Key stuck on an enemy boat attacking his country, trying to tell how the fight was going from the glimpses he could catch from the rockets (essentially fireworks) set off to illuminate the battle. I also love that it's set to the tune of the song (To Anacreon in Heaven) of a London drinking and (probably) sex club.