American Flag

[Gopher]

Why do Americans make such a big deal about their flag?

[TehBorken]

 Gopher wrote:
Why do Americans make such a big deal about their flag?

Because we're conditioned to believe that it means something. It's just a symbol, but some people take it far too seriously.
 
 

[Sportsdude]

In school we are brainwashed to think that the flag is sacred and cannot be messed with.  Pledge of Alligance every single day.  Spun war stories that never happened.  Even revisionist history.  But yet people love to use the flag as an accessory on their car. lol.


I personally think this country is too nationalistic, and not in a good way.
 

[Lise]

You guys say your allegiance in the morning, in the classrooms too, right? Don't understand that part. I went thru a similar system in Malaysia but that's just brain-washing you. Different in Australia, we do say the country and school oaths there but not everyday. Just on special occassions.

[Sportsdude]

Yup you had to stand up every morning, put your hand on your heart and say it with the rest of the class while someone says it over the intercom as well.  If you didn't do it you got detention and if you didn't do it again after that you got suspended.  

[Lise]

Wow. Detention and suspension? I guess you guys do take your patriotic oath very seriously.

[Sportsdude]

 In middle school I started ignoring the pledge and I got in trouble for it.


   

[Sportsdude]

Yeah in middle school I started not doing the pledge and I got detention over it and then my superior said if I did it again I would get in school suspension for a day.  They said I was disgracing the country by not standing up to say the pledge.  So ever since then I've completely ignored the national anthem whenever its played.  When I played football I got really daring.  I'd untie and tie my shoe during the anthem, sit down, look the other way etc.  I don't see the point.  When I die nobody is going to care what country I came from, its pointless.  

[N, S, & F]

Lise wrote:
Wow. Detention and suspension? I guess you guys do take your patriotic oath very seriously.[/DIV]
 No Doubt? I guess it starts at a young age?

 I always wonder when I meet (some) Americans, where is the GPS and/or Bar Code implanted??  

[tenkani]

  Here in the states we have a tradition of placing symbols before substance.
The folks that are the most adamant about protecting the flag are also the ones who often see no problem with attacking the principles the flag supposedly represents (freedom, Democracy, the constitution, checks and balances in our government etc.)

American-style patriotism is faith-based secular religion and like other religions it tends not to tolerate open debate. As Cobert might say, it favors "truthiness" over facts.

EDIT: SD, you go girl.

[Sportsdude]

 [h2]Tuesday, June 21, 2005[/h2]       [span class="rss:item"] [a name="020444"] [/a][h3][a name="020444"]Star Trek pledge of allegiance gets kid suspended[/a][/h3] [a name="020444"]
 A young Star Trek fan was suspended from school for reciting his own version of the Pledge of Allegiance, in which he pledged to the United Federation of Planets. His mom has posted the hilarious story: [/a][blockquote] [a name="020444"]"So, anyway. What did he do?" I picked at the hem of my sweatshirt, looked just to the right of her face. I couldn't meet her eyes. I felt nervous. I felt underdressed. I wondered where 8 was. [/a] [a name="020444"]So she told me what he did. And as she told me, I started to laugh. I didn't laugh a little, either, but I belly-laughed and grabbed my stomach. My son stood with his class this morning, put small right hand over heart, faced the American flag, and recited his own personal pledge of allegiance: [/a][/p] [a name="020444"]I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets, and to the galaxy for which it stands, one universe, under everybody, with liberty and justice for all species. [/a][/p] [a name="020444"]"Mrs. Jaworski. This isn't humorous. The Pledge is an extremely important and patriotic moment each morning in the classroom. I am ashamed of your son's behavior, and I hope you are, too."
[/a][/p][a name="020444"]
[/a][/p][/blockquote][/span]  

[Lise]

There's a ST allegiance? Hell, the kid should show more respect to the Klingons, damnit!!! *swearing Klingon words complete with spit and glaring eyes*

[Sportsdude]

 [font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="3"][font color="#660000" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size="4"]School suspends teen for refusing to recite Pledge of Allegiance
[/font][/font]WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A high school student has been suspended for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of his class.[/p] Craig Paternoster, 16, a sophomore at Meyers High School, was suspended on Sept. 30 after having refused to stand for the pledge for the last three weeks.[/p] "It's not that I don't respect America. I think this is the greatest country," Paternoster said. "I just don't believe in the flag, and I have a right to my silence."[/p] Principal Michael Gorham told Paternoster to write a 1,000-word essay on why he would not say the pledge. After that, the sophomore will be allowed to return to school, Gorham says.[/p] "He's been refusing to stand for the pledge for about three weeks now and without a reason. At this point, I felt I had to do something," Gorham said. "All I want is an explanation."[/p] Paternoster said he had refused to say the pledge for the last three years and none of his previous teachers had a problem with it. But this year, Paternoster's homeroom teacher, Andrew Kuhl, would not accept it.[/p] Kuhl, a civics teacher, said he knew about the 1943 Supreme Court ruling, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, that says public school students do not have to salute the American flag or pledge allegiance to it.[/p] But he said other court decisions had allowed schools to require an explanation from students who refuse to participate.[/p] "This could lead to students refusing to do anything for no reason," he said. "You lose a little of the Bill of Rights when you walk into a school, and for good reason."[/p] American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Roger Bearden called the student's suspension illegal and unconstitutional.[/p] "Not only should he be able to refrain from the pledge, the school shouldn't even be questioning the validity of his reasons," Bearden said.[/p]
   

[Gopher]

Is there any other country which practices this stupidity?  

[tenkani]

 Bah!
When will these people learn that whether it's patriotism or other religions, if it's forced on you then it has no meaning! If you force a child to recite the pledge on pain of detention do you really think that will inspire love of country??

Of course not. It inspires obedience, which is of course the true purpose of public school.