Pledge of Allegiance

 

Once again I heard the song “God Bless America”, which so moves me every time I hear it, as I sing along with the words.  Only today I heard it played by running an old video at the men’s group meeting, and I saw fewer men singing the words --- the young ones don’t know them.  They are never sung at churches any more, and are not in church song books.  The closest thing is America the Beautiful, which I heard sung at the end of mass this morning.

Another thing which I don’t hear anymore, and which is certainly not known by anyone under the age of 30, is the pledge of allegiance, which was a normal beginning of a school day when I was growing up.  But it dares to mention “God”, and so it was removed from schools.  From the difficulties in getting young people to choose a military career, perhaps it is also not mentioned because it dares to mention allegiance to “the flag of the United States of America.”  There probably would be students allowed to leave the room or sit down in protest if it were ever allowed to be said again.

This afternoon I decided to go out and have dinner at a local restaurant; perhaps I might stumble on one which would offer a veteran’s discount today.  To my surprise, virtually all restaurants were closed.  I wonder what they were celebrating. 

So, in the quiet of my kitchen I sang God Bless America as I prepared some fish, and then recited this --- from memory!

 

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag 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."