What is the Pledge of Allegiance
by Red Skelton
As a
schoolboy, one of Red Skelton's teachers
explained the words and meaning of the
Pledge of Allegiance to his class.
Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded,
his recollection of this lecture.
It is followed by an observation of his own.
I - - Me; an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge - - Dedicate all of my
worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance -
- My love and my devotion.
To the Flag
- - Our standard; Old Glory; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves there is
respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is
everybody's job.
United -
- That means that we have all come together.
States of
America- - Individual communities that have united
into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and
dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a
common purpose, and that is love for country.
And to the Republic -
- a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the
people to govern. And government is the people; and it's from the people to the
leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands
One Nation - meaning, so
blessed by God.
Indivisible
- - Incapable of being divided.
With Liberty
- - Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one's own life, without
threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.
And Justice -
- The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.
For All - which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.
And
now, boys and girls, let me hear you
recite 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, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Since I
was a small boy, two states have
been added to our country,
and two words have been added to the Pledge of
Allegiance: Under God.
Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer,
and that would be eliminated from schools, too?
--Red Skelton
