September 17 is a special day in the United States. Some of you may know that it is a day to remember the History of our country. A day we celebrate the signing of the Constitution. In fact, it is now known as Constitution Day. This year in school, the teachers were instructed to celebrate Constitution day with our students. I wouldn't actually characterize myself as a patriotic person, but I am happy to be a citizen of the United States. Although, when I travel I don't like being associated with the "ugly American" type of tourist, so I guess that is why I'm not always very patriotic.
I must admit, I wasn't really revved up for Constitution day. The principal annouced to the school that we would be celebrating this memorable day on Friday, September 16th. We could show our patriotism by wearing red, white, and blue. In addition, the History teachers were instructed to find creative ways to remind students about how great the Constitution is. Honestly, I haven't read Constitutions from other countries, so I can't say that ours is the best, but I think it was wisely constructed. I truly feel that our founding fathers were inspired men. But adding an extra lesson was not something I really didn't wanted to do. So I opted instead to just share some interesting facts about the Constitution and give a candy to those that wore red, white, and blue.
To start off our day, we were going to have a minute of silence with the pledge of allegiance, like we do everyday. But the principal would add a few extra comments about reflecting on the Constitution and the freedoms that we have as U.S. citizens because of the Constitution. I'm sure this all sounds fine and dandy, but let me add one more element to the mix. We have this one parent...just one, who is actually fighting the courts about reading the pledge of allegiance in schools. Not for religious reasons, but because according to Virginia law, the students are required to stand during the pledge (they don't have to say it, but they must stand). Anyhow, he says that is against our Constitutional rights and the law should be changed. Apparently he is really fighting this case and it will probably go to the Supreme Court. Well, we as teachers, have been warned that he will try to email us or talk with the kids about not standing up, but that we should just let the administration handle it. Well, something very different happened on Constitution day.
Some of the students started to come into the school with a handout that was given to them at bus stops and on their way walking to school. This is what the note said:
Patriotism is learning about and respecting our constitutions and laws and not a daily pledge to a flag.
To honor Constitution Day, exercise the right to control your own body and to form your own religious beliefs by remaining seated during the Pledge of Allegiance. (The Constitution prohibits teachers from making you stand.) Then read this homophonic pledge. It is the Constitution that prevents the government from punishing you for reading or reciting this.
I pledge hell's legions to the flag of the united state of hysteria and to the wee public from Iraqistan, one Asian under guard, undies visibile, with fibberty and lushness for all.
____________________________________________________________
When I saw that note I felt like I was reading some type of anti-literature. My own patriotism stepped in and I was mad. How could saying the pledge really be offensive to someone? I wanted to say, "hey, whoever passed this out, you look like a bad guy without patriotism." Needless to say, we collect a lot of these papers before homeroom. My students were just fine saying the pledge, but I'm sure there were some "patriotic" students in 7th and 8th grade. Am I wrong for feeling a little offended? Maybe it is just me...but I've have been wondering about patriotism. What makes a person patriotic? Do I have what it takes? Does saying the pledge reflect patriotism or not? I don't know the answers, but I do know that my little bit of patriotism was hurt by this note. So I have to ask you, what is patriotism to you?
oh, Happy Constitution Day!
Saturday, September 17, 2005
What is patriotism?
Posted by Travelin' Tracy at 9:10 PM
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4 comments:
I have struggled with that one myself, particularly after 9/11 when every idiot with $1 purchased a flag and displayed it any way they chose, with absolutely no regard for flag etiquette. Is it anti-patroiotic if the flag is backwards? Or is it just tacky when someone plasters their car with flag stickers and has a flag waving from every window?
What I think it all boils down to is what is in your heart. You have to have some patriotism to live here, because otherwise, you wouldn't. And it, unfortunately, is part of what makes America so wonderful that someone can boycott and maim the Pledge. They are trying to offend others as they themselves feel offended, so I just try to have sympathy. What is pathetic is the dispersal of the rewriting to children, who don't even care why someone would encourage this, but it sounds like fun, right? That's the low point of the whole situation. However, I think the kids are smart enough and mature enough that if you explained to them what YOU think it means to be American and patriotic, they might be less likely to blindly recite some joke by a sore loser.
To me, patriotism is how you conduct yourself and tolerate others. It has nothing to do with a pledge, standing or sitting, and has more to do with honor.
Extraordinaire- Well written. I think you wrote exactly what I was thinking. I realize that we don't have to all agree, but I just wonder sometimes what people are trying to accomplish. It will be interesting the administration will deal with this parent throughout the year.
Here's what one parent published in the Washington Times a month or so ago explaining opposition to the pledge.
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Brian Tubbs misses the point of my opposition to the Virginia Pledge law ("A victory for freedom of religion," Letters, Saturday, in response to "Virginia's Pledge law sustained," Page 1, Thursday). I oppose my children's participation even as spectators in a daily Pledge of Allegiance ritual because teachers require all children to reverently acknowledge religion in a way that I consider profane and idolatrous.
Occasionally teachers even insist that my children stand and publicly pledge allegiance to views offensive to my religion.
My ability to teach my children the true character and nature of God is compromised when the government mixes patriotic and religious messages in lessons on civic morality.
Of course, Mr. Tubbs is right that history has plenty of examples of politicians expressing their religious beliefs in the public square. However, George Washington did not force children, under threat of being slandered as unpatriotic and ungodly, to pledge allegiance to his personal religious beliefs.
I think the Pledge is inappropriate in public school because:
* Young children think the Pledge is a prayer -- or, worse, that nationalism itself is God.
* The Pledge is a patriotic creed that endorses Puritan covenant theology as the unifying framework for civic morality that is anathema to my Anabaptist Mennonite religion, which has a 300-year American history of rejecting homage to a God and country worldview.
* Using God's name as a gloss to burnish patriotic ideas into a sworn oath is blasphemy to those who take seriously the commandment not to take God's name in vain.
One of the most important aspects of our heritage is that one's religious views do not affect one's standing in civic life. A patriotic ritual that excludes people because of their religion fails the "liberty and justice for all" test and should be discarded.
[Here is the letter that was sent to the school board regarding the incident described here. It is sad that the so many think flag adoration is patriotism yet have no appreciation for the Constitution. The state law and constitutional precedence is clear that children can remain seated during the pledge yet Tracy indicates that she forces her children to stand.]
Last Friday, in celebration of Constitution Day, I give my children’s schools a quiz on free speech.
The single most important right recognized in the Constitution is freedom of speech. This clause is essential for a government “of the people and by the people.” It is also critical for implementing religion freedom.
I create two leaflets. One was written for elementary and one for higher grades. Both suggested students should use Constitution Day to take a holiday from saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Children who remain seated would express the opinion that patriotism is respect for the Constitution and the rule of law and not exclusively flag adoration.
My 4th grade son took leaflets to [deleted] school and tried to exercise his right to free speech by sharing them with his classmates. The teacher confiscated the leaflets. Not surprisingly, the school skipped providing any student instruction on the Constitution as mandated by Congress for federally funded schools.
The leaflet was clear that the speech was from a student and not the teacher or school. This is what it said: “Today we celebrate Constitution Day. Please stay seated when the teacher says the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher cannot punish you for not standing or not saying the Pledge. The Constitution’s Bill of Rights protects you from unjust punishment. Patriotism is about respect for the Constitution and the laws of America. The Constitution unites us; the Pledge divides us. Thank you. [deleted]"
I handed the second leaflet out to the general public while standing on a public sidewalk along [public sidewalk] near the entrances to [deleted] schools. It contained a homophonic satire of the Pledge. (The leaflet is available online at http://www.freedomfriday.org/pdf/pledgesatireleaflet.pdf) Like all satire, it was intentionally provocative because speech is always free until you say something controversial. But it was not lewd, obscene, profane, libelous or disruptive to the mandated requirement to educate children about the Constitution.
(As my children get older the issue of profanity comes into play. I consider the Pledge’s use of God’s name to add a religious and moral gloss to government’s existence as taking God’s name in vain. Although the student handbook promises that students have the right to a profanity-free school environment, this rule appears to be one-sided since schools have no place for students to go to escape the Pledge. Pledge satire or flag desecration, however, cannot possibly be profane because the courts rejected my notion that there is an unconstitutional civil religion revolving around a sacred flag.)
[deleted] School’s security guard, [deletd], left the building and walked several hundred feet to my location to demand that I stop handing out the leaflets. I initially declined because I was certain I was expressing a political view that cannot be censored like commercial messages and that he wrongly considered my speech solicitation. I also pointed out that I was on a public sidewalk and so he had no jurisdiction. When a student passing by accepted a leaflet from me he grabbed it out of her hand saying: “I’ll take that.”
When I offered to move to the sidewalk on the other side of the street and continue to hand out leaflets he threatened to call the Sheriff’s office. I then agreed to leave without handing out any additional leaflets.
The school educators and staff need additional training before they teach children about the Constitution. They appear not to understand the regulatory difference between commercial and political speech. They also have improperly reduced the speech protections of parents and students engaged in political speech so that we have fewer rights than they do as government employees while performing their job. Prior review of speech is permissible for employees but not for parents off school grounds or students on campus.
These are some free speech issues that were unresolved from last year:
* Substitute teachers forced my children to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. All-school assemblies that include the Pledge coerce students into participating via peer pressure.
* The staff in the lunchroom forced children to stand for the Pledge even when they expressed a desire to remain seated but the reasons were deemed inadequate.
* I created a brochure enumerating my issues with the patriotic curriculum and placed it in the mailboxes for the staff at [deleted] who interact with my children. That correspondence was confiscated by the administration as “inappropriate” because it had not been approved. This year I emailed correspondence to each of my children’s teachers to explain my desire to have them opt out of religiously offensive activities. Not one educator responded with even an acknowledgement of the letter let along an indication that they would respect my authority as my children’s moral instructor.
* I was unable to volunteer as a field trip chaperone because the transportation was on buses with flag decals that require riders to acknowledge that the flag is glorious. I proposed that I wear a tee shirt with a burning flag and the words “Not the God I trust” to express my view that this kind of flag adoration is idolatry. Deputy Superintendent [deleted] coyly communicated that if I did my children or I would be punished.
I suggest you form a committee to study and recommend changes to the patriotic portion of your character education program so that it has room for Constitution Day and the concept that patriotism is respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. This committee could work on the mechanics of the mandatory Pledge component so that it is more respectful of children that are currently being slandered as both unpatriotic and ungodly because of their religion or nationality. I volunteer to assist this committee work towards a solution that provides liberty and justice for all.
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