Please read I gave my friend permission to post this on LJ as we agreed that it would be a good discussion topic. Read all the comments, as well. They play perhaps the biggest part in the argument. In case you're wondering, I'm Zoe/wwwlolitacom Discuss.
Some points that caught my eye: - Sturmig's comment on eighth-graders saying the pledge. Kids ought to be taught about their country before they're told that they need to pledge to it. - Historyblitz and Helloghostie saying she should be prepared for the consequences: Yeah, she ought to be able to back that up, but in a proper society with its head on straight, one can't be expected to have to defend a harmless joke like that. - Conjure_lass bringing up tact: The first valid point I saw for the opposite argument, but still very over-the-top. Yeah, you should have consideration for what other people think and how they'll respond to certain things, but this is just ridiculous. If a mock pledge showed up in some comedian's act, no one would mind. If JibJab made a parody of the pledge, I guarantee those teachers would be laughing right along. So they're allowed to be tactless because they're on stage or they have their own website? That's nonsense. - Nike2422's history lesson: I actually learned something new about the pledge from that. And it only serves to strengthen my argument. We shouldn't be so protective of it that we're offended when it's used as a joke template when it was ripped off to begin with. I'm really tired of hearing "There's a time and place for everything." It's a bullshit excuse, and what it actually means is, "I'm sensitive, so keep X items/concepts out of my space." People only get offended when their conviction is too weak to stand on its own; if someone really believes in the pledge, they should be believing in the point of the pledge, not the words; then it won't matter if they get changed around.
