So I was sitting back, catching up tonight, when I came across the diary about Arizona state legislators requiring high school students to recite a loyalty oath in order to get their diploma. I'm thinking, that's absolutely insane? No way.
Way. I found the bill out on the Az Legislative website. Here's the link, so you can see for yourselves:
http://www.azleg.gov//FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/51leg/1r/bills/hb2467p.htm&Session_ID=110
So I went out and found the legislators attached to this bill, and sent this email. Follow along below the orange thingy.
I, ___, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge these duties; So help me God.
This is wrong in SO many different ways…Perhaps I can point out some of them to you. Perhaps a rewrite of the oath would help:
I, ___, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Republican Party, and all of the principles they hold true, regardless of whether or not I believe in them, because if I don’t then I won’t get my High School diploma. I further swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Republican Party and consider enemies that my state legislators deem enemies, especially if they are not Republicans. I take this oath under duress, definitely not freely, because if I don’t take this freaking oath, I won’t get my diploma, will end up on welfare which the Republicans are dedicated to ending, and will be forced to end up living out a survivalists life with 10,000 rounds of ammunition for my Assault Rifle in 100 round magazines in case the black helicopters come to take me away to the UN or DHS detention camps that have been built but have never been found because they use stealth technology…So help me Cernunnos…By the way, that’s the Horned God of the Celtic Pagans, in case you didn’t know.
So let’s break down the problems with your version of the Oath…
1. These are not youth enlisting in the military, they are not required to protect and defend the Constitution, because unless this has turned into a military dictatorship, they still have the freedom to believe what they want. Perhaps in Hitler’s world, this would be a requirement, but this is not Nazi Germany of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Perhaps you could include a stiff-arm salute as part of the requirements.
2. You really think that they would be doing this ‘without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion’ when you are holding their diploma hostage. Get real.
3. Aren’t you forgetting the Homeschoolers? I demand equal protection under the law. Or do you not remember the 14th Amendment of the American Constitution that you want them to swear to? Why should homeschoolers be omitted from their legal obligation under the law.
4. God? Which God? Is it the Christian God? What if they are atheists, or agnostic, or believe in a non-Christian god. Can the student substitute the name of the god they believe in?
5. You want teenagers, who barely do anything really well and are still trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives, to well and faithfully discharge these duties, or be foresworn?
6. And what about legal non-citizens, do they have to uphold the Constitution as well.
7. And finally, for a Party that loves small government and freedom, you certainly love to interfere in people’s lives, whether it’s an oath taken under duress, or one of any other things that your Party likes to control.
So glad I was able to help you find the error of your ways.
So, just in case anyone else wants to voice their opinion, here are their email addresses:
'bthorpe@azleg.gov'; 'sborrelli@azleg.gov'; 'cseel@azleg.gov'; 'tshope@azleg.gov'; 'stsmith@azleg.gov'; 'jdial@azleg.gov'; 'dlivingston@azleg.gov'; 'rcrandall@azleg.gov'