The short version: what asrivkin said.
The long version:
So much approbation has been given to Mercutio for his actions in this thread that I feel compelled to register my firm rejection of them as appropriate or respectful. The fact that he is obviously intelligent, reasonable, and well-spoken (and written) does not, in and of itself, make him correct.
First, though: I absolutely, completely, and utterly agree that Merc has the right to do what he did, and applaud his school and teacher for being respectful enough of his political rights to allow it with a minimum of fuss. Similarly, however, I have the right to view his actions as misguided, insulting, and out-and-out wrong, and to lose respect for him as a consequence. I don’t believe that any authority whatsoever should be able to force Merc (or anyone) to stand or to recite the pledge, so please don’t go quoting the Constitution at me in response to this post because it’s irrelevant in this context.
Merc: I will start by saying that I can understand if you do not agree with the pledge of allegiance, and do not wish to pledge allegiance; I still think it’s reprehensible, but we’ll get to that anon. First, however - I find it profoundly insulting that you refuse to stand. To me, standing during a recitation of any sort - US Pledge of Allegiance, Canadian National Anthem, the Lord’s Prayer in a Catholic Church - does not imply agreement with the words being spoken. When I attend an Expos baseball game (and I’ve actually done so, which makes me one of a select few <g>), I stand for the Canadian anthem. Not because I am pledging myself to the Canadian government; obviously, I am not. Rather, I stand because I wish to show respect for the people who are. I am saying: “I acknowledge that this is a matter of deep personal significance to you (the Canadian citizens in the crowd, all 15 of them if it’s the Expos game I mention), and I respect your belief and loyalty to your country even if I do not share it.” In the same way, standing during the U.S. Pledge is a sign of respect for your classmates, who may believe very strongly in its words, and for the untold thousands who have believed enough in those words to fight, die, and work for them.
By not standing, you show disrespect for all of them. You are saying, in effect, “not only do I not agree with the words you are saying, I think you are fools for saying them. I don’t care that this is a matter of significance to you. I don’t care that you care.” That is the very definition of disrespect.
And it doesn’t really matter whether your intent is to show disrespect. It will be perceived as such, and you know it. To use a rough analogy: If I know that a homosexual friend of mine is insulted by the use of the term “gay” (as it happens, I have such a friend) to denote “stupid or pointless,” and I use that term around him, I am being insulting. The fact that my intent is not to insult is irrelevant; I am doing something deliberately that I know will cause hurt feelings, and consequently am being insulting. In the same way, whatever your intent, you are being disrespectful of the beliefs and convictions of your classmates and countrymen, and should be prepared to be treated as such. Not as a hero, because you are not, and not as some groundbreaking civil rights activist, because you are not; just as someone with no consideration for the feelings of those around you.
Right, I know I’m running on here, so I’ll try to keep this last part brief. Many will disagree with me here, but I personally also lose respect for you simply due to your refusal to say the pledge. I don’t find it insulting, in the way I do your refusal to stand; I simply find it pathetic and ungrateful. I believe that most people (and if your personal experiences with the nation have been uniformly horrible - if you are routinely discriminated against, disenfranchised, robbed of your personal freedom - then you are an exception and I duly apologize) who lives in this nation, who reaps the immense benefits thereof, ought to feel allegiance to that nation. I’m not saying you have to, or that I would support any efforts to legally force you to; I’m just saying that I, personally, would not be interested in knowing you.
The bottom line is this: simply exercising one’s rights, for no better reason than because one can, is not being respectful of those rights or of the efforts made to secure them. You sitting in class, refusing to show any respect or allegiance to a nation that, broadly speaking, protects, feeds, and shelters you, is not the equivalent of Rosa Parks exercising her rights. She had a point, and had a moral imperative on her side. You, sir, do not. We show respect for our rights by using them responsibly, in good faith, and for the good.
I apologize if I ran on too long, or if anything in here is better suited for the Pit or another forum. But I feel very strongly that the virtual canonization of the OP for his admittedly courageous but utterly wrongheaded actions shows a depressing lack of understanding about the responsibilities associated with the rights we have in this country.
