MOST heartwarming story of the month comes from Arkansas where a 10-year-old boy made headlines when he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance – because gay people don’t get equal justice or liberty.
When Will Phillips was told recently by a substitute teacher at West Fork Elementary to stand for the pledge, he told her, “solemnly, and with a little bit of malice”:
Ma’am you can jump off a bridge.
The lad, who intends becoming a lawyer, decided a he would not take the pledge until gays and lesbians were allowed to marry. He puts his case most eloquently in this CNN TV interview, in which he says:
Will Phillips and his dad on CNN
I’ve grown up with a lot of people and I’m good friends with a lot of people who are gay and I think they should have the same rights as all people.
Although the school principal did not coerce or punish him for not taking the pledge, he did order the boy do a report on the history of the pledge and the symbolism of the flag for sassing the teacher.
Will’s act of defiance has met with approval by a number of commentators – and no doubt with horror by right-wing fundies. He has also been taking flak from some fellow pupils, who have labelled him a “gaywad”.
This so incensed well-known professional wrestler Mick Foley that he went on television to tell presenter Jon Stewart:
I was touched by young Will’s plight so I’ll tell you what I’m going to do: If I find out that anybody has hassled this young man or teased him or called him a wad of any sort, I and perhaps a few of my friends will come to his school and bring a world of pain. Teachers, faculty, students, beware because the eyes of Mick Foley are upon you.
How can you lose with someone like this on your side?
And this is what Arkansas News columnist John Brummett wrote in support of the boy:
The Pledge of Allegiance was cooked up by a Baptist fellow in 1892 and subsequently promoted in youth publications for recitation by school children. It is, of course, not anything our founders envisioned and is, in fact, kind of antithetical to our very principle of constitutionally guaranteed liberty.
You cannot force somebody to promise fealty in this gloriously free country.
Having our little kids stand up in public school and salute a piece of cloth to vow faithfulness to their nation is harmless in nearly all cases, like a rhythmic and memorized child’s prayer before meals or at bedtime.
But a mass forced pledging of nationalistic allegiance is, when you really think about it, a perversion of the greater notion that we love and support our country by our own choice and for the very freedoms it grants us, including the freedom not to have to spew officially required words or mantras or chants.
I’m not saying we need to stop the rote practice each morning in our schools. I’m just saying we should leave a 10-year-old alone if he doesn’t participate.
I am proud of the freethinking young man. I am pleased that the principal did not discipline him for free thinking, but for the ill-advised suggestion that the substitute teacher take a long walk off a short bridge. And I forgive the substitute teacher, who, after all, was but a substitute. Goodness knows that substitute teachers often walk into difficult situations.
Actually, I’ve been pondering an all-American compromise. The boy could stand up and say his own freely expressed pledge.
Rather than pledge allegiance to the flag and to the republic for which it stands, he might say, ‘I offer my voluntary loving support for my free country and the republic for which this flag stands’.
Rather than say ‘one nation under God, indivisible, he could say, ‘one nation, not subject to anyone’s forced religion, and where the right-wing Texas governor was free even to intimate his state’s secession’.
Rather than say ‘with liberty and justice for all’, he could say, ‘with liberty and justice for many people, but, sadly as yet, not gays or lesbians’.
That ought to satisfy everybody.
Note: Until June 14, 1954, no mention was made of’ God in the pledge. It simply said:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.
The Eisenhower adminstation changed it to one Nation UNDER GOD, indivisible …
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:52 am
The story of Will refusing the recite the pledge is indeed heart-warming and it is also good to see so many others come out in support. His remark to the teacher can surely be forgiven as youthful over-enthusiasm. We should also commend the school for its low-key response.
Oh, that the story ended there. But it doesn’t, of course. Other people have to jump on the bandwaggon and seek publicity from it with their own ill-advised blatherings.
What was the doltish Mick Foley thinking of when he offered threats of violence in support of Will? He thereby misses the point of the exercise (that people should be free to express their opinion without being hassled) and gives opponents something to latch on to.
With friends like that…
And John Brummett, well, he was doing so well until the end where he proposes a pledge of his own thus undoing all the good work of the preceding paragraphs. The point of the protest, as he himself says, is that people should not have to recite pledges of any kind. Then he goes on to suggest that Will ought to recite a pledge of his own devising. I sometimes despair…
I do hope this young man achieves his goal of becoming a lawyer. Perhaps he will become a civil rights advocate and on this showing, would make a good one. I also hope to learns to choose his friends wisely.
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 am
Pledges to country and flag always remind me of totalitarian states and I see a lot of pictures of people who are selling out their country and it’s interest wearing lapel-pins. Seems to me that the pledge has lost it’s meaning, if it ever had one.
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Who said, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
Free Country? Democracy? I don’t think so with Bush fiddling the votes, placing his religious buddies on the supreme court etc. Hell, the censorship is almost as bad as in the UK where we can’t get a few minutes on Thought for the Day.
PS Mick Foley – best not mess with Mick. He looks as if he really could take care of business.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I’m not a fan of wrestling but good on Mick Foley, I wonder which of his “friends he’d bring along”
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
If the kid was a fundie and refusing to do something like support a pro-gay rights day because it went against his beliefs, blogs like this would be up in arms about it, claiming that he’s too young to have a strong belief on something like this, and that his parents are influencing him.
I have a hard time believing that this kid has spontaneously generated such a strong belief like this. He’s 10. 10 year olds simply don’t come up with stuff like this by themselves, that’s why they’re called children instead of short-adults.
While it’s nice to see a kid supporting our ideals for once, it doesn’t change the fact that the kid is most likely being influenced or coerced in some way.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Really? So what rights don’t gay people have?
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
@Me
Perhaps.
But his father seems a good, relaxed sort who lets his kids go their own way through reason, inquiry and experience rather than by ramming the bible down their throats.
More importantly there is, of course, no moral equivalence between the position Will has arrived at (by whatever means) and that of a fundie bigot.
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm
“More importantly there is, of course, no moral equivalence between the position Will has arrived at (by whatever means) and that of a fundie bigot.”
True, but if this kid has, as I strongly believe, developed his opinions with the influence of his parents, then there should be concern about it.
We can’t say “you can’t force your ideals on your child” to religious folks, then sit back and smile as freethinkers do the same.
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Broga, Dr Johnson said patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Voltaire would probably have substituted ‘religion’.
Me, if his parents say: ‘Gay people are fine, they’re like anyone else, homophobia is bad’, you can class that as indoctrination if you want. But what if they said these things in response to Will asking them: ‘Mom, Dad, are gay people evil perverts who are ruining America, like Pastor X or Senator Y says?’ The USA is awash with bigotry on this subject and it’s hard to imagine any bright kid not being aware of the state of play.
Be realistic. How would you respond to that sort of question from a child?
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Me. Suppose the issue was free speech and a ten year old objected to censorship because he picked up these views from his parents? Would you still feel that these “ideals had been forced on him.”
To me, and I do not know how the boy came by his opinions, “forcing views” is much more forceful than absorbing them from parents. We had a Roman Catholic neighbour for a short time and the priest had no hesitation in ensuring that their children knew that the penalty for not believing was hell. Missing Mass ensured that the same fate awaited and he was soon on their doorstep if they did miss Church on Sunday.
I recall that when their grown up daughter, many years later and in a different area, wanted to marry a protestant her father objected vehementently and the priest said “I will only allow this if he first converts to Roman Catholicism and the child are brought up as Roman Catholics.” The man did as ordered.
There was another issue, nothing to do with this, when another man who wanted to marry an RC and refused to convert was told he could only enter the Church by the back door. I have forgotten the details of the back door arrangement. Now that is “forcing.”
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:54 pm
“10 year olds simply don’t come up with stuff like this by themselves, that’s why they’re called children instead of short-adults.”
Hmm, haven’t watched much childrens TV in a while then?
My kid’s eight and more than capable of arguing back to teachers against injustice to her fellow pupils at school, as teachers have mentioned several times on parents nights.
Wish I could say she got it all from me and the Mrs telling her to keep asking questions of adults when they don’t make sense, and not to believe them until they do, but I’d have to be honest and say it’s at least as likely she gets it from The Simpsons – or any number of newer kids cartoons whose dialogue quality never ceases to amaze. (Ssshhh – don’t tell the fundies, they’ll think it’s an atheist plot!)
November 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I posted this story because it struck a particular chord. When I was 12, and attending a school in South Africa, I refused to stand up for the national anthem at the Monday assembly.
By that age I had already developed a strong hatred of the apartheid system. Much to the horror of my parents, I flatly refused to participate in any displays of patriotism.
That act of defiance earned me a severe caning.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:07 am
I have no problem believing that a child can come to the conclusion that gay folk are no different to the rest of us. I realise that it may have looked like that is what I was saying, because I am a terrible writer, but it’s not.
What I’m saying is that I find it hard to believe that the kid has a strong enough conviction to stand up in front of his class and ostracise himself by making a big deal out of it. It’s one thing to support gay rights, it’s quite another to notice that the country as a whole doesn’t support gay rights and that therefore the pledge of alleigence is hypocritical, and thus refusing to recite it and openly challenging the teacher on it, at 10 years old. It just seems like too abstract a concept for a 10 year old to grasp and act on without some kind of nudging from an authority figure.
If the teacher had been saying something like “do you think the USA grants equal rights to all of it’s citizens” or something similar, a direct line of reasoning to the child’s ideals, then I wouldn’t have a problem accepting it. At the very least I’d claim that the kid and his parents had a conversation about it the night before, whether it was instigated by the child or not.
Then again maybe I’m just incredibly out of touch with the way children work. The only regular contact I have with a kid younger than 18 is my 10 year old cousin who is more interested in his nintendo DS than anything else, so I’m probably heavily biased.
Barry:
Back in primary school we had to sing songs at every assembly and at some point I decided to stop singing certain lines that referenced race (there was one song that had the line “the ink is black / the page is white / together we learn to read and write / to read and write”) because my mind at the time registered it as racist (I still do now, kinda, but for a different reason.) Luckily I’m too young to have been caned (I’m 21.) Just thought I’d throw that out there.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:12 am
DS,
Frankly I don’t think yours is an honest question so I won’t bother with a lengthy answer. If you care to seek facts here is a handy chart that shows how few rights we really have here in the US.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:24 pm
valdemar. Many thanks for the source of the patriotism quote.
The USA is indeed awash with bigotry and religious enforcement. I recall some USA friends staying with us and they and their children, early teenage, where they could be described as freethinking, pugnacious debating atheists. In fact, I often played the devil’s advocate defending christianity just to enjoy the discussion and they really knew their stuff. Back in the USA I heard much later from a relative who visited them that they attended church and the father parked the cars for the congregation. The explanation: you either get on board or your kids will be ostracised, bullied, not able to play on the local basketball teams etc.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:42 am
I always found saying the pledge of allegiance to be a very daunting and totalitarin one. Reminded me of what the Nazi’s did in Germany.
December 24th, 2009 at 3:43 am
Nope, no parental influence here…
When little Susie refuses to do something in school and cites her Biblical stance, she’s under the undue influence of her parents, when a liberal’s kid mimics what he hears at home it’s just that we don’t understand how smart and precious and adorable and by gosh smart and did we mention how *smart* kids today are!
I have plenty of friends on both sides of the political fence, and from their kids aged 12 and under I hear darn little that Mumsie and Pops aren’t already spouting 24/7.
Every nation stands to salute their flag, many have pledges to support their nation,and even when guests in another nation, most DO stand in respect but do not make the hand over heart gesture nor do they pledge.
Getting rid of the religious nonsense added in would be a great step, and I teach my kids to leave that part out, as it has nothing to do with supporting the country.
But others remain silent throughout and I have never seen them hassled.
Reality is that the kid was rude.
And those of you who think he came up with this on his own, please go back to worshiping your brilliant wonderful angelic perfect kids while you still can.
After all, eventually they’ll be teenagers and they WILL start thinking for themselves
December 25th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
He has a great future ahead of him as a Human Rights lawyer. Phillips, if you dont’ make it in the USA, come to the UK, we need more stupid shits like you. As for his being a “free thinking kid”, yeah right, his parents didn’t feel him that crap from the day he was born.
December 25th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
adminstation?
January 26th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
A lesson in life he should have been taught in school…#1 DO WHAT YOUR TOLD, your a naive kid. #2 LIFE’S NOT FAIR. This kid should be smacked.
…So should Mick Foley…come get some! you has-been.