I pledge allegiance...

So, Lynbrook ASB will recite the Pledge of Allegiance every Friday, although they constantly remind us that it is purely voluntary.

I will remain seated. Mostly because it is absolutely ridiculous to "check-in" my inner patriotism once a week. Also because I reject the purpose and the necessity of such pledge. I'm not protesting what the pledge represents, but rather the shallow display of loyalty (see: the "loyalty oaths" in Joseph Heller's Catch-22), which really is all that the pledge is. What does a pledge matter if people don't believe in what they are saying? What do the words "with liberty and justice for ALL" mean when two people's right to marry each other are limited to the confines of a particular religion, when women who make informed and frankly difficult choices about their own body are labeled as baby-killers and such.? Does it even matter if everyone, after repeating the pledge, simply returns to calling each other unpatriotic and undemocratic?

I don't even know if the pledge will work. Of course, it's all about peer pressure. If a bulk of the class stands up, then that will be the "norm." I'm guessing that for my third period class, most of us will remain seated, just because things are so noisy during announcements anyway. Or maybe a few of the more outgoing students will stand up and thus encourage others to stand as well. But whatever my third period classroom is like, I know I'm patriotic. And I don't need a standardized, mechanical oath to tell me what America is all about.