When You Take the Pledge of Allegiance, Take the Whole Pledge
Buzzflash points us to Gerald Plessner's where he suggests that when we take the pledge, we do more than pick and choose the phrases we like while we ignore all the rest:
Of the United States of America,
And to the Republic for which it stands,
One nation under God, indivisible,
With liberty and justice for all.
Too many Americans take more seriously their obligation of "allegiance to the flag" rather than their commitment to "liberty and justice for all."
The American flag is a wonderful and engaging symbol. Every child learns the lessons of our colonial past and the miracle of our nation's success through our flag.
As it has evolved over 225 years, our flag has held fast to thirteen stripes paying tribute to our founding colonies. And as America has grown, the flag's accumulation of additional stars has been a symbol of our nation's growth, providing a better life for all its peoples and the inclusion of those who come to America.
The symbolism of the flag's stars make it easy for our children to understand and our adults to admire. But as beautiful as it is, our flag is still but a symbol of a greater truth, American's obligation to guarantee "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" to all.
Our national commitment to our founding principles is encapsulated in the Pledge's final phrase, "with liberty and justice for all". It commands us to defend the goals of our Declaration of Independence to promote "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", calling upon every American to defend our Founders' dream of a fair, honest, honorable and egalitarian democracy embodied in our Constitution and reaffirmed in our Bill of Rights.
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