I’m all for the First Amendment; in fact, I love it. One of my greatest joys in life is spreading propaganda against the government and leading anarchist rallies. But for all of my pro-freedom-of-speech sentiment, I don’t see why students shouldn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Maybe it is because we as Americans thrive on the concept of hypocrisy over democracy that, while we enjoy the warmth provided by the blanket of freedom established by our government, we so stubbornly refuse to demonstrate any sort of respect. While we sit comfortably at home, watching CNN and criticizing our president, literally tens of thousands of soldiers are risking their lives just to defend democracy. Even the more proactive of us, who go to peace rallies and put anti-Bush stickers on the back of our cars, need to realize that there is something more grandiose going on than the unrealistic ideals of a pacifist.

The problem is that the liberal media, rather than bringing the war to the public, has delivered the concept of war in a biased rather than objective way, and thus the liberal media, rather than degrading the war and attacking the presidency, has done the complete opposite by desensitizing the public to the concept of death. Sure, they present images of the destruction caused by war, but by providing a constant stream of gruesome photos, the war is now further from home than it ever has been before. Unfortunately, both of these aspects of media lead to a public that is widely unconcerned with the effects of war so far from home. This has lead to an overall lack of support for our troops, the same troops that spend 52 straight weeks… in desert conditions… with no family… just so you can live comfortably under the naïve concept that we call freedom. To them, criticisms are less than uncooperative; they are demoralizing.

Here’s the thing. I’m not arguing for forcing the Pledge of Allegiance on students, and under the First Amendment I guess it can’t be required. If I were president, though, I would probably set up something akin to minarets (tall slender towers attached to a mosque, having one or more projecting balconies from which a muezzin summons the people to prayer) in all major cities and would call all Americans to support our country five times a day. I do understand that this technically isn’t democratic, but standing is such a small act, so small that many people don’t even recognize it as relevant. But, ask yourself, if a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? If you cheat on your wife and she’ll never find out, did you really even cheat? Every time you stand (or don’t), you’re not proving your First Amendment rights; you’re displaying a lack of respect that, even if it goes unnoticed, will always exist. The least we can do is offer a small token of respect for the freedoms that we take for granted. Because maybe, just maybe, it’s not only you that you’re standing for; maybe there are things more important than your small acts of rebellion.