Pledging allegiance.

I will not pledge allegiance to a man, for men are fallible, weak and venal. I will not pledge allegiance to an institution, for institutions exist to gatekeep and ossify. I will not pledge allegiance to a country, for accident of birth should not raise one person up and cast another down, and sow division based on arbitrary borders.

No.

I will not pledge to these things.

I will pledge my allegiance to an ideal. For ideals persist. They transcend border and individual. They bind us not in oppressive chains of pomp and circumstance, but in commonality of purpose.

They bind us together in the dream of a better world.

A fairer world.

A safer world.

I will not sing the song. I will not swear the oath. I bear you no ill will if you choose to. If you sit glued to the television, home bedecked in bunting, cramming asparagus quiche into every orifice. For the ideal I swear my loyalty to is choice. It is life love and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

And happiness is a bird that is not caged by castle, country or cathedral. For it lives within each of us, a phoenix waiting to be kindled into life, its fire spreading eagerly to those we stand next to, shoulder to shoulder and not those we kneel to.