“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.” This is the Pledge of Allegiance, a promise most of us have made when we were small children and continue to make regularly. But how often do we consider the meaning behind those words?
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America”: we do not pledge ourselves to a political figure, a political party, or even a specific ideology. Instead, we pledge ourselves to the flag of our country. A flag that stands for the very best of what America can be. A flag stands for the ideals that America strives for, not the country as a whole. You aren’t pledging yourself to the crimes America has committed, you’re not pledging yourself to the things it could be doing better, you’re pledging yourself instead to what America can be.
“…and to the republic for which it stands”: while we first pledge to the ideals of our nation, we also pledge to our republic, to uphold it while we try and figure out how to make it like our ideals. The ending of this phrase mentions the flag stands for the republic, we’re pledging ourselves to the republic and the ideals it’s founded on, not just the republic itself.
“…one nation under God”: our nation was founded under Christian ideals, and doing our best to follow the God who rules above the world. This could in addition mean that as a nation we’re pledging not to put ourselves above God, not to make decisions for other people on what’s good, but to simply allow others to do their best to be moral.
“…Indivisible”: this means we are not divisible, at least that’s what we’re pledging to do. This is something that nearly everyone in the USA who’s half aware of politics can tell we’ve fallen short in many regards there.
“with liberty and justice for all.” Liberty and justice for everyone, we’ve pledged to nothing less than this. Our every goal in government should be sighted towards this, nearly everything else is simply the how.
Our Pledge of Allegiance means something, it’s a Pledge that spells out every ideal and goal of our nation, and if we properly apply it to our lives, it would make the world around us a much better place. Yes, the specifics are important, and the hows are important, but let us not get so caught up in the details that we miss the entire forest for a few trees.
