Flag Day

Today, June 14 is apparently Flag Day. According to the "Today in History" the Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the national flag in 1777, and the words "under God," were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. The Pledge was written by Francis Bellamy in 1892. Bellamy was a Baptist minister but the real surprise for many people is that he also described himself as a socialist. Wonder what the tea party folks would think?
The other flag related event which happened today was that the Supreme Court issued its ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette in 1943. My guess is they timed it for the day since it had to do with the flag and the pledge of allegiance. In the case the Supreme Court ruled that States and schools could not require students to say the Pledge of Allegiance. The case revolved around some folks who were Jehovah Witnesses who did not want their children to say the Pledge or to salute the flag as they said it was idolatrous. Needless to say this irritated lots of people and the case made its way to the Supreme Court. The Justices pointed out that one could not force or demand allegiance, especially in a democracy.
Last week Goshen College, a Mennonite college in Indiana, decided that after playing the Star Spangled Banner before athletic events for a year that they would discontinue doing so this fall. Prior to last year they hadn't played the anthem before sporting events. A lot of folks I know were surprised the college changed its position and as might be expected the decision has caused a lot of wailing and moaning in some circles. Accusations are made that the college is unpatriotic, that the decision disrespects all the soldiers who fought and died, and on and on.
What I would argue is that the decision to not play the anthem, especially in the face of such harsh criticism, is in itself an act of great patriotism. What does the freedom of speech and expression mean if people never say anything controversial? Somewhat related, the Supreme Courts ruling in Barnette pointed out that our guaranteed freedom of expression also gives the right to not have to express things, in this case, the anthem, or for some, the Pledge of Allegiance.
The school where I work does not have a flag and does not play the anthem before athletic events. After being penalized for some years by the state athletic associations, it was suggested that they were violating the constitution. After further discussion, their disciplinary actions were rescinded. If you go back to the beginnings of the school, one reason it was started was so that Mennonite youths would not have to be subjected to the strong patriotism in the years following World War II.
The school now attracts a fair number of "other than Mennonite" students. Somewhere along the way they occasionally realize their isn't a flag, anthem, or pledge. Some will ask, a few have sort of protested, but most come to an understanding of the schools position, especially if we have done a decent job of exposing them to some of the traditional Mennonite ideas about how we relate to the State. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, especially for the folks at Goshen who are facing lots of criticism both locally and nationally.