I Pledge Allegiance... or, the thread known as...can't I just worship who/what I want

[LunaWitch]

I work in a print shop.
Sometimes I get very annoying items to make copies of.

This one I'm sorry I read.
I'll lay it on ya;

oh and let me state before I type this out, that, this claims to be written by a kid in school (um yeah, right).


I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE...

Since the Pledge of Allegiance & The Lord's Prayer are not allowed in most schools anymore because the word "God" is mentioned, a kid in Arizona wrote the new School Prayer:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If scripture now the class recites,
it violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tounges, and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but first the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the "unwed daddy", our Senior King.
It's "innapropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires, and totempoles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; my soul please take!

Amen.

------
:rolleyes:
I DO NOT even know where to start tearing this "poem" apart, so I won't bother, but you read this and tell me, does this sound like a typical kid? In high school or mid-school whatever?
This is sooooooo written by someone who is about 60 years old.
Argh!
Ok I feel better now. somewhat.


oh yeah, vote purple LOL
:)

[Myst]

highschool actually.

I wouldn't worry about it.

[Melysande]

**decides to dissect it just for the heck of it**

"Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule..."

Praying isn't against the rule. It's organized, mandatory faculty-led prayer during school hours that isn't allowed.

"For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd."

**chuckles** Inaccurate verbiage for lack of anything else that rhymed.

"If scripture now the class recites,
it violates the Bill of Rights."

I read some parts of it in high school. It wasn't illegal then, and still isn't. There is nothing wrong with reading Christian scripture as literature. It's the reading of it as if it's the only religious belief that is allowed that is wrong.

"And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a federal matter now."

And that one's wrong because there were several people in my classes who bowed their head in private prayer. There's nothing "federal matter" about that. The two times I ever was led in prayer in school was for drama club. And I didn't mind because 1. we didn't have to bow our heads if we didn't want to, and 2. the drama director (who gave the prayer) started out with, "Our heavenly and earthly Father-Mother..." I thought it was a nice touch.

"Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene."

But spikes are still against the dress code in Massachusetts. When they're hardened with gel and hairspray, they're considered a dangerous weapon.

"The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice."

**tsks** Another inaccurate word for the sake of rhyme. Prayers spoken aloud are not illegal. It's forcing anyone else to say them with you that is illegal.

"For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all."

Big hairy deal. Can't be anywhere near as offensive as I find:

"Yo, back the f*** up, nigga. Don'tchu be sayin' that, aight. Don'tchu be stahtin' wit' me or me an' my girls will kick ya ass, b****. You skanky cu*t!"

This was part of an actual conversation/screaming match between two black girls at my old high school one day. (I always winced when I heard them call each other "nigga" over and over again, and I'm not even Black.)

"In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state."

Poor author. Like they're the only one who has to meditate in God's name in silence. **rolls eyes** The law goes for everyone, regardless of religious belief.

"We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tounges, and cheeks."

Not allowed to cuss. That one's still against the school conduct code. And many of the outfits are not *allowed* to be worn because they are distracting. (Our newspaper once described the first day of school as "Better suited for the grand opening parade of a Frederick's of Hollywood store.") My school system still keeps trying to push a public school uniform act. I vehemently oppose it, though. If I had wanted a uniform to wear in school, there were many private schools to choose from.

"They've outlawed guns, but first the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable."

Guns should be outlawed from school. The Bible wasn't outlawed. It just has to be read as literature and not as if it is everyone's religious beliefs to be practiced. Quoting the Bible is not wrong either, unless it is distracting or done with the intent to harrass others.

"We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy', our Senior King."

Your point?

"It's 'innapropriate' to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such 'judgments' do not belong."

Such a dim little Solstice Tree light, aren't you...?
Depends on what's right and what's wrong. Bringing a gun to school? Wrong. Not picking on someone who is wearing a pentacle if that someone is a practicing Wiccan or Pagan? Right. Encouraging the pregnant senior queen to be a responsible mom-to-be and finish high school and go on to college? Right. Drumming a mom-to-be senior queen out of school by telling her she's a slut and a bad person? Wrong.

"We can get our condoms and birth controls,"

Again with the "Your point?" Evidently this wonderwhip has never seen an overcrowded school in geographically small city with more than a million people living in it. If he or she had, s/he might think differently about letting those children keep themselves from creating still MORE children to further overtax the system.

"Study witchcraft, vampires, and totempoles."

I'd love to have been in this kid's class. I might have had more fun studying if this had been what was in the curriculum. And for the record.... Ever hear of MacBeth? WITCHES. Three of them. Don't hear you complaining about old Shakey now, do we? Didn't think so.

"But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd."

**chuckles**That's what Sunday school is for and after-school prayer group sessions. School is for learning readin', writin', and 'rithmetic. (And science, too.) Morality and ethics, like manners, should be learned at home. (Or in church.)

"It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess."

Chaos? Funny..... I was always pretty clear about how things worked in school. Go through the metal detectors, go to homeroom, where teacher takes attendance, attend classes for periods 1 through 8, with 30 minutes of lunch in between, say hi to the cute hall monitors if I see them, and then catch the bus home at the end of the day. My day was pretty orderly, I'd say.

"So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; my soul please take!"

Heck, even if s/he isn't shot, take 'em anyway just for being a dumbass.

"Amen."

Senebty. Dua Amen-Ra.

[Melysande]

**is happy now that she's vented her spleen**

[Valnorran]

I've taught high school kids who are easily capable of writing something like that. Personally, I see no problem here. Obviously the school should not force religion on anyone, but if a kid wants to pray, so what? American schools being what they are, I can't really blame them.

[cherrywind]

Bravo Melysande!
If you hadn't of done it I would.
My favourite part:

"We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires, and totempoles."

I wish I would have learned about witchcraft, vampires, and totem poles in high school. In fact it wasn't even until I took a course in UNIVERSITY about Native cultures of the Northwest Coast (a course I absolutely loved) that I even learned what First Nation began the tradition of the totem pole, especially since it is a west coast phenomenon and I came from the praries.
As for witchcraft and vampires, it was handled the same way the bible was - taken as pure literature and discussed based on that.

Learning about birth control however is serious business and I am a strong believer that kids have a right to be taught sexual education, if not by their parents, then by their schools because somebody has to do it. I live in an area where every time I get on the bus there's a new 14 year old pregnant or with a child that I see and it sickens me because for the most part, it's their parents and educators fault for not fully teaching them how to handle sex. Not to mention I can't imagine all the diseases I'm sure are running rampant because I know they're all have sex with all the same people.

Whew, didn't meant to get on a rant there :lol:.

[Phoenix Blue]

Quoth Melysande:
"So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; my soul please take!"

Heck, even if s/he isn't shot, take 'em anyway just for being a dumbass.

"Amen."

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I don't think I've seen such an excellent analysis since. . . well, it's been a while. :bigredgri

[Old Witch]

I like Melysandes analysis but I know a lot of High School students plenty smart ( and sincere ) enough to write that.

[LunaWitch]

Thanks so very much for that response Melysande, you truly took the words right out of my mouth. That's what I was feeling when I was reading that poem. :)

As for everyone telling me that middle school and high school kids are bright enough to write that, I absolutely agree with you! Hell, I bet some elementary school kid could have done a bang up job.
But what I'm getting at is, the way it's worded.... it's just a little old sounding. As in the way the writer is so against dying hair crazy colors, piercings, the occult and birth control, (and yet for guns, mind you) I mean hell, I graduated high school in 1989 folks, and believe me no one I knew back then even was against any of that and all for school prayer. Ya know why? Cause we didn't have school prayers back then nor do they now (I'm talking public school). But, much older generations did. That includes even my mom's generation. Dressing in black, Dying your hair purple,teen pregnancies, piercings, vampires and witchcraft didn't just show up in 1999 or something, it's been around a long time now, so I think more and more people are starting to think differently. ok now I am rambling. Does anyone get me? If not, I retract this statement. hmmm. maybe i'm the one whos old. yikes
:D

and by the way, I'm all for freedom of religion, but not when everyone else's religion is forced down my throat.

[Chibi-Fallon]

At religioustolerance.org they pick it apart very nicely (I don’t have the link on me but I used it for a report, which was a bad idea as the teacher turned out to be a conservative Catholic, d’oh!). I always find it annoying how it’s always *Christians* who write things like this. I mean it’s never the Jewish kid and it’s never the Islamic kid. They need something to complain about and they don’t have a lot to go on, they just run with what they got. But the really scary thing is that there’s some little youth group out there with no life that wrote that. I mean who has time for that? It’s long.

[Flaire-FireStar]

Originally posted by cherrywind
"We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires, and totempoles."

I wish I would have learned about witchcraft, vampires, and totem poles in high school. In fact it wasn't even until I took a course in UNIVERSITY about Native cultures of the Northwest Coast (a course I absolutely loved) that I even learned what First Nation began the tradition of the totem pole, especially since it is a west coast phenomenon and I came from the praries.
As for witchcraft and vampires, it was handled the same way the bible was - taken as pure literature and discussed based on that.

HAH! What's so wrong about totem poles? I think they're wonderful art (and, being on the North coast, we have them all over the townsite. :)) Not only that, we learned about them (how they're made and such) in elementary school - grade 3, I think. :)

:huh: I don't recall studying vampires...or witchcraft....noooooo I did that all on my own. :nyah:

As for condoms & birth controls..I do agree that it should be taught in school - that's the only place some people learn about it.. *shrugs*

I just think the author of the poem went a little bit overboard. heh...

:thumbsup: Well done post of dissecting the poem, Mely!

[cherrywind]

Overboard is putting it nicely :lol:.

[Flaire-FireStar]

I am nice. :)

[SimplyStrange]

OOH OOH MY TURN! :p:p


Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
What's wrong with colored hair? Makes things more interesting! :D (p.s. my boyfriend has blue hair... does that still offend this guy, or is it just purple orange and green?:huh: )

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
What?? All my teachers chew my head off for even slipping out the word ass every now and then! :2G:

And pierce our noses, tounges, and cheeks.
If you look good that way, do it! :D It's not hurting anyone. The way I always saw it, if someone else didn't like it, THEY didn't have to get THEIR body pierced... and then the one with the piercing would be the one looking stupid, so what's there to worry about? :)

They've outlawed guns, but first the Bible.
:eek: Eep. Ok, so we're not allowed to have studs in our noses, but we can have guns in our pockets? I is confoozled :confused: :uzi::shot: :blushake:

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
The reason there's so many diseases and pregnancies out there is because of uneducated people, so... what's the big deal? They're not encouraging sex, they're just saying "hey, we know that if you want to do it, there's really nothing we can do to stop you, so please, at least be smart about it..." What's the harm in that?

Study witchcraft, vampires, and totempoles.
Shakespeare was a wonderful writer, Macbeth was beautiful, Interview With the Vampire was a pretty good book I'd say (and movie, Mmmm Tom Cruise :smooch: and Brad Pitt :hearteyes :mmm:*drool*), and I like totempoles. :)

Should I be shot; my soul please take!
And here... I agree with Melysande. :crylaugh:



This is one of my favorite parts about America. :D This kid has every right to write these kinds of things, and I encourage freedom of speech... it just means that I get to freely pick it apart as well! :D:D:D:D:D

[Flaire-FireStar]

Wait a minute....Isn't orange a natural hair colour...? Unless you're talking like the hunter-orange colour.. :bug: That's bright!

[Azure]

I don't know, for the writer to suggest prayer is equivalent to vice seems rather inappropriate given the context he/she is trying to create.

This sort of thing is designed to be rabble rousing. You're meant to have a cheap, visceral reaction and lash out instantly, not take it apart. That's the point. It's how rhetoric works.

Nice job Mely. Pity the people who need to understand that this is a bill of goods aren't ever going to think that much.

But when you really think, and when you examine the message and the motive behind what people are trying to shove at you, you join a small minority of the population.

[Naillosotarrain]

Hmm ... the rythm reminds me of this:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

[Phoenix Blue]

. . .which has always struck me as very morbid. Yeah, I wanna think about dying in my sleep right before I turn out the lights. That's healthy.

[Sequoia]

Didn't you know? It's ok with god to carry around a gun to "do unto thy neighbour as unto yourself' or something. . . ^^;; lol ok forgive me I've been up about 24 hours. But it's not ok with god to like. . .y'know. . . have safe sex and all. See, god in his infinate love wants to see young teenagers lives ruined and little babies never given a healthy chance in life. He wants to see young people die of aids and such. . . . . is that really what this author belives?? sheesh! Let's face it - abstinance, while probably the best choice, is really the least likely. I'm lucky, my mom answered every question I ever asked her. And the school gave me the nice technical terms for it. Sex ed is incredibly important.

GOSH I wish I had learned about witchcraft and vampires at my school!! Actually, we did this really cool thing for the salem witch trials in 8th grade. . . we actually had a witch trial!!! And OMG I was accused of being a witch!! And my braids had evil spells in them *laughs* That was so fun! So I guess I did learn about witchcraft. . . T.T dagnabbit, no vampires though. Why not? *whine*


Originally posted by Flaire
Wait a minute....Isn't orange a natural hair colour...? Unless you're talking like the hunter-orange colour.. :bug: That's bright!

LMAO ok we all hear about the evils of bright orange hair. . . .


Allow me to introduce my little brother when he was younger. . . just look at the picture. The colours say it all.

(and yes, that's me in the BG :D )

[Naillosotarrain]

Aww ... but he looks so cute......

[Azure]

I did a report on the witch trials in the 7th grade, so I guess I learned about witchcraft too. But by then I had already started down a Pagan path, so it was to late for it to "indoctrinate" me.

Oh, wait, I became a Pagan because I studied history. They need to add "they can teach history. . ." in the negative, to the poem.

[Flaire-FireStar]

LMAO ok we all hear about the evils of bright orange hair. . . .

:lol:


Uh oh.... I have a normal hair colour right now....better change that quick. :p

:) That's a cute pic, Puma.. (Proof orange hair does exist naturally..... :boing: )

[Demeter]

"In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state."


Umm. I always have a problem with people complaining that they aren't "allowed" to pray aloud in public. Don't they read their own Book? I refer, of course, to Matthew 6:5-6, which instructs the Christian to pray in his own private space, with the door closed, not standing where they can be seen by everybody. So sure, let them pray standing in the churches or on the street corners or otherwise in public ... and remind them that being seen by everybody is the ONLY reward they will have for this activity. The words of their own great Teacher say that is the only reward they will ever get ...

[Myst]

That's actually more about not praying just to be seen praying.

As in pray only to have the reward of being seen praying and it's the only reward you'll have.

Doesn't mean if you pray in public because you are moved to pray there you will be treated the same way - that would have negated the desire to ever build a church wouldn't it :)