World News:
The problem with “world news” on network television programs is that it is not really “world” news. Reports focus on the United States, generally a very specific group of United Statesians who are (racialized as) White, (classized/culturalized as) middle class, etc. There are a few brief mentions about events in other countries but no where near coverage of real events affecting real people in very different parts of the world. This is problematic. Problematic because there are more and more people who basically do not read (by choice) and who only get their information from the media. News programs proclaiming to cover “national and world news” with a 99% focus on the national, perpetuate the idea that nothing else happens of any importance in the rest of the world.
Spanking:
Spanking is both morally and legally very problematic. Morally, because spanking is psychologically and (potentially) physically dangerous. It communicates that physical pain/abuse (in any form) is okay and is a sign of love. They are part of the Culture of Rape-that says men should be excused and that women “should have behaved.” Legally, because spanking can involve physical scars, psychological scars, and would be illegal if done to an adult. Don’t you find it ironic that if an adult spanked another adult (18 or over) without consent that action would/could result in charges, at a minimum, of assault, kidnapping, pain and suffering, etc? Why do we permit this to happen to children? So it’s perfectly legal to spank an 8 year old, but totally illegal to spank a 18 year old. It’s messed up – but it’s far from the only problem with our system.
The Pledge:
I pledge Allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with Liberty and Justice for all.
Having the phrase “under God” in the Pledge is a violation of the separation of Church and State ideal. Additionally, not everyone in the United States (or the world) believes in the Judeo-Christian God of Western tradition (who is racialized as White). Furthermore, as others have said, mixing “religion” with “politics”/”nation states” is always very dangerous for every one and falsely links social institutions that are not (automatically) linked and that are frequently at odds.
Other problems with the Pledge include that the United States has never come anywhere close to being a place where EVERY ONE has liberty and justice. In fact, people and groups and the government(s) go out of their way all the time to guarantee that most people do not have liberty and justice. And why are we pledging “allegiance” to a FLAG??
And finally, a mini poem:
My thoughts dance around the sunlight
Echo over fire and water through the moonlight
Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda 