Why I Pledge Allegiance to the Constitution — Not the Flag \ stacker news

pull down to refresh

Why I Pledge Allegiance to the Constitution — Not the Flag thedailyeconomy.org/article/pledge-allegiance-to-the-constitution-not-the-flag/

377 sats \ 8 comments \ @0xbitcoiner 12 Jan Politics_And_Law econ

The pledge demands patriotic devotion. The skeptical Constitution builds limits on power. Only one protects liberty.

Idon’t much care for the pledge of allegiance. This got me into a bit of hot water when I was the convocation speaker at Hillsdale College, standing on the stage right next to the flag, silent and polite, while the assembled faculty and studentry recited the pledge.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the “standard to which the wise and honest can repair.” And I confess I’ve gotten misty-eyed when I’ve seen Old Glory flown around a rodeo arena, as the sun is setting over the Rocky Mountains.

Alas, the pledge of allegiance had an ugly midwife: the Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy, who was kicked out of his Boston pulpit for preaching against the evils of capitalism. Not for me, the pledge to a symbol or the Hegelian nation. And not for me a pledge that was accompanied by the Bellamy salute, until it was quietly dropped during World War II because it looked a little too much like Nazi theatrics.

The pledge was a clever work of Progressivism. It inculcated allegiance to the state and the abstract patria, while ignoring the bedrock of American liberty, the US Constitution — because its pesky constraints might otherwise thwart wise leaders who can fix all of our problems with the stroke of a regulatory or legislative pen.

I am, however, ready to pledge allegiance to the Constitution.

In fact, back in 1996, I did “solemnly swear that I will support and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” I was an eager 23-year-old Foreign Service Officer, taking my oath of office. I left the Foreign Service because the State Department opened my eyes to the ills of bureaucracy, and because too many of my colleagues were not defending the Constitution. Ironically, the US Government made a libertarian of me.

What’s so special, so laudable, so lovable about the US Constitution?
The Constitutional ContractThe Constitutional Contract
The [Expanded] United States ConstitutionThe [Expanded] United States Constitution
Is The Constitution Still Relevant?Is The Constitution Still Relevant?

...read more at thedailyeconomy.org

view all related items

269 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 12 Jan

Having little kids say the pledge is super creepy and obviously cult shit.

91 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 12 Jan

Google "bellamy salute" and its relation to the pledge.....

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 12 Jan

I asked Gemini…

The Bellamy salute was the original hand gesture used during the United States Pledge of Allegiance. It was created by Francis Bellamy in 1892.
Key Details

The Gesture: The salute involved extending the right arm straight out, palm up or slightly downward, pointing toward the flag.
The Change: During the 1920s and 30s, the gesture became controversial because of its striking similarity to the Fascist salute used in Italy and the Nazi salute in Germany.
The Replacement: On December 22, 1942, Congress officially amended the Flag Code, replacing the Bellamy salute with the current tradition of placing the right hand over the heart.
Original 1892 Text
The pledge accompanied by the salute was shorter than the modern version:

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I can provide more history on the evolution of the Pledge of Allegiance text if needed.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 12 Jan

I remember doing this in public elementary school

Edit: regarding constitution, Liberia has the same constitution as USA

123 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheRationalBit 12 Jan

A lot of great points in this article. Why do we as a country put so much emphasis on people reciting the pledge vs knowing the Constitution and the Amendments? The below paragraph really stood out to me as a way to frame the Constitution.

I like to read the Constitution as a three-part document: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of 1787, and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. This establishes the Constitution as the institutional fulfillment of a philosophical statement, and one that is still growing into its promise. Fellow nerds will complain that there are more than three documents… touché! A fuller understanding requires a reading of earlier philosophy (Locke, Montesquieu, Milton, and others); the Federalist Papers; the Articles of Confederation; and the Constitution of the Confederate States (though it was born of grievous sin, it did address a century of constitutional learning, and addressed both federal overreach and a scandalously latitudinarian reading of the Commerce Clause).