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My house is filled with homeschooled teens today and I have been enjoying their amazing minds and conversations. At this moment in the other room is a fascinating conversation on American history and the Pledge of Allegiance. My son has to concede that he barely knows the words of the Pledge...he has no interest in it.
Other kids are saying that, while they love their country, they see no reason to recite a pledge of any kind. Another teen is saying that the words under God need to be removed from the current Pledge of Allegiance. In response to the question of how familiar the Pledge of Allegiance is to the citizens one teen said Things change in this country every day; we could get used to the words changing in the Pledge. One teen has gone on to disagree saying that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feels great and they love being a part of a large group saying it all together.
The conversation went on to discuss various religion traditions from other countries as well as how the dominant religion in this country, Christianity, seems to remove rights from the people, rather than add to them.
What I'm marveling at is how informed these kids are, how well-spoken, how passionate they are about how freedom strengthens a country... I'm proud of these kids; they are so neat!
A perfectly average and extraordinary day.
A perfectly average and extraordinary day.
Maybe it's the homeschooling. Maybe it's just that the next generation coming up has amazing hearts and minds...I'm hopeful.
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Why am I not surprised to find that you are having the same discussions in your house as we are in ours? Although my children have heard/seen the Pledge of Allegiance in movies, this weekend was the first time they'd ever had the opportunity to do it themselves. They looked panicked, but I told them they could sit it out and we'd discuss it later. Haven't got back around to it just yet, but I've been doing some thinking and reading about it myself. I stood Sunday at our 4-H meeting, but didn't pledge. I recognize that as a child it was an indoctrination kind of thing and now I kinda resent the rote-ness of it. I'm at once disturbed by the collective and often mindless pledge of loyalty and moved by the camaraderie and patriotism of it. It gets me thinking about military, about war, about the hearts of men and women to serve and protect something bigger than themselves, about the exploitation of those men and women by those in power... Yeah. I'm gonna do some reading on it and discuss it with my older kids and see what they think.
ReplyDeleteAs always, Karen my dear, I enjoy reading your thoughts and about what's going on with you and yours.
I keep finding myself wondering why PATRIOTISM is such an important value.
DeletePatriotism seems to undermine some people's ability to see clearly, to think rationally, and to speak honestly about what is good and bad in this country.
Please come back and share your continued conversations, Kaleesha! :)