Upside Down Pt. 1

I think it's a good idea to question some of the things that people expect you to accept, even if doing so might put you against the flow. The first time I remember really questioning something that was the status quo was in grade 8/8th grade.

Something that you may or may not know about American public schools is that the students stand and say a pledge of allegiance every morning. It is just one of those things you start doing when you're five years old and don't really question.

A friend of mine who happened to be a Johovah's Witness would never stand or say the pledge of allegiance, so one day I asked her why. She told me that she only pledges her allegiance to God. That made so much sense to me! But, being a new Christian, I wasn't sure whether or not I should say it. All the other Christians stood and said the pledge of allegiance, so I kept on doing it, too, even though I started feeling weird about it.

Then, one day in high school, I stood for the pledge of allegiance and just couldn't make myself say it. I had become convinced and convicted over those couple of years that pledging allegiance to a flag is pretty blatant idolatry, so I just stopped doing it.

The Pledge of Allegiance

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

My point is not that we should all stop saying the pledge of allegiance, rather that we should think about the things we are doing and, if they seem wrong, then maybe they are wrong and maybe we should stop doing them.