Will Phillips, a ten-year-old Arkansas boy is refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance. Will is refusing to stand, because he says the words “liberty and justice for all” are not true in a nation that discriminates against gay people and tolerates racism and sexism. In the aftermath of Will’s decision to exercise his legally-protected right to refuse to stand for or say the pledge of allegiance he has been ridiculed by many of his peers and the substitute teacher who is running his class.
It will not come as a surprise to readers of this blog, but I support Will’s right to refuse to participate in the pledge. The reality that America provides “liberty and justice for all” is a mythical one. America never has nor will it ever be a place that equally dispenses justice and offers all the same amount of liberty. To believe otherwise is to be delusional. If anything supporters of the pledge should be telling people that the words “liberty and justice for all” are mere words of aspiration which encourage all Americans to do what we can to create a union that comes closer to adhering to those worthwhile goals than does the America of today.
Unfortunately, the debate around Will’s brave stand has become focused on his support of same-sex marriage rather than remaining a discussion of the correctness of his general sentiment. By getting so angry that they are willing to trash a ten-year-old boy those who disagree with Will are proving the truth behind his stance. If America truly was a place where “liberty and justice for all” was the norm everyone would support Will’s right to abstain from the pledge of allegiance. By criticizing him too many are showing us how far our nation has to go on the road to the idyllic society so many falsely believe we already have. If more Americans were willing to join Will and do more for their nation than stupidly reciting a pledge without ever contemplating the truth behind it and working to live up to the creed it espouses our society would be a more perfect union.
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