Ahhhhh… Love that line. My brother and his fiance just had a baby and are debating on vaccines or not. They asked me, I said, it’s always better to get them and protect your child from as much as you possibly can. Like all of us here are vaccinated. I recommended that they follow what their doctor recommends. My dad chimes in with, “Doctors don’t know everything, they’re just trying to sell drugs for the pharmaceutical companies, that’s all they care about.” I looked at him and said, “As someone who studied biology in college, there’s a lot that a lot of us don’t know. But seeing as that doctor has had significantly more training than I’ve had, let alone you, I’m going to trust them more than some random article I’ve read online.” He stopped talking to me for a large portion of the day after that.
I was about the same. Around junior high I was like, “wtf am I doing?” For me the first part was “under God,” that got to me. I had found it weird as a child even to say that and then I realized I didn’t want to say that at all. I thought it was strange when supposedly, we’re allowed to believe whatever we want. I never felt the connection or belief in the Catholic God (what I was, very, loosely raised under) and it started there. Hand on heart omitting , “under God.” Slowly it progressed to just standing and saying nothing. It’s probably been well over a decade since I’ve been in a situation to say the pledge, but if I were, I know I wouldn’t stand anymore.
I also, do not always stand for the National Anthem.