Of Patriotism and Knee Jerk Reactions

While blog surfing this morning, I came upon an entry about an eight year boy who was suspended for substituting his own words for the Pledge of Allegiance. The boy, a Star Trek fan, adapted the Pledge to how he thought it might be said in the Star Trek universe:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets, and to the galaxy for which it stands, one universe, under everybody, with liberty and justice for all species.

This sentiment in no way violates the spirit of the original, and something similar to it may well exist in the far future, once humanity has found a way to accomplish interstellar travel and has been in contact with people from other planets.

There's nothing wrong with patriotism, but it should never be of the knee-jerk, jingoistic variety.

Rather than suspending this boy, the school should be applauding his creativity and use his adaptation as a springboard for a discussion of how democracy might evolve and exist several hundred years from now.

In other words, make a learning experience out of it. Instead of being indoctrination centers teaching kids how to conform to society as it is, they should be teaching kids how to think in order that they might improve society when they grow up.
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While reading this story, I was reminded of something that happened when I was in high school.

One of my female friends had a homeroom teacher, whom we thought was a little off kilter. There was something not quite right about this guy, but we couldn't put a finger on just what it was.

On one Monday morning, my friend was running a bit late, so that after she entered the homeroom, she sat down to organize her books and notebooks for the day ahead.

Every morning, all students were expected to stand while the national anthem was played over the intercom. My friend, who was still fumbling with her stuff, was late to stand once the anthem started playing.

The teacher went postal, yelling and screaming, calling her a "dirty, rotten Commie who ought to move to Russia". My friend, totally appalled, stood there in slack-jawed shock. She was sent to the office, where she was suspended.

The next day, her parents went to the school to lodge a protest. They urged the administration to have this teacher evaluated for mental illness, as it was obvious to them that he had a problem. Not surprisingly, the principal declined this advice, telling the parents there was "nothing wrong with him."

Three weeks after we graduated from high school, this teacher killed his dog, his wife, then himself. I can't help but think that things might have been different if the school administration had listened to my friend's parents.

Thoughts?