The Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance

not to a flag as object,

but to the people it was meant to shelter—

to the unfinished promise

buried beneath ash, rhetoric, and fear.

I pledge allegiance to dignity,

to the belief that no life is expendable,

that compassion is not weakness,

and that power exists to serve, not dominate.

I pledge allegiance to the radical idea

that justice applies to the least protected first—

that sacred halls exist to be disrupted

when mercy is replaced by profit,

and that any god worth invoking

stands with the oppressed, not the powerful.

I pledge allegiance to the dismantling of systems

that thrive on exclusion, distortion, and control—

to confronting lies rather than erasing knowledge,

to protecting culture, history, and truth

even when they make us uncomfortable.

I pledge allegiance to self-defense against tyranny—

not as a fetish of force,

but as a moral safeguard

against governments that forget

their authority was borrowed, not ordained.

I pledge allegiance to standing my ground

when conscience demands it—

to intervening when harm is imminent,

to defending life, liberty, and bodily autonomy

with restraint, responsibility, and clarity.

I pledge allegiance to the understanding

that laws once used to bind us

can also be used to free us—

that constitutions are not relics,

but living covenants requiring courage to uphold.

If those entrusted with power refuse to act,

I pledge allegiance to civic responsibility—

to peaceful resistance, ethical refusal,

and the collective duty

to protect the spirit of liberty itself.

I pledge allegiance to no kings,

no saviors crowned by fear,

no charmers of serpents or crowds—

but to shared leadership, accountability,

and wisdom earned through service.

I pledge allegiance to light over dogma,

knowledge over myth weaponized as control,

and to a future where freedom is not hoarded

but distributed as a human right.

I pledge allegiance to a world beyond “us versus them,”

to a consensual humanism

that honors difference without hierarchy,

that measures success by sustainability,

and progress by how well the most vulnerable live.

With liberty and justice—

not someday,

not selectively,

but now, and—

for all.