When I grew up in North Dakota, a frequent activity at school was the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. I believe many of the readers of this letter share this common experience. This shared experience should be something that brings us together as Americans rather than divides us into competing ideologies. We don't have to agree politically, economically, religiously, or socially to still be united in our goal to create and maintain the democratic ideals of these United States of America.
I participated willingly in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, but without intense scrutiny concerning the exercise of this freedom of speech in the United States of America.
I can affirmatively state several things I wasn't doing. I was not pledging allegiance to the following: a single person or group of people; a high school or institution of higher learning; a political party or a political idea; a corporation or place of business; a single state or several states; a religious organization or religious doctrine; a political philosophy or economic philosophy; a nationality or a race; a local social club; a participation sport or a sports franchise; a musical genre or musical group; or even my family and friends. I was simply pledging 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."
Gary Gronneberg lives in Mesa, Ariz.
