As a young fifth grader, Will Phillips is showing Americans that you don't have to be an adult to stand up for what you believe in. Actually, his idea of spreading a political message doesn't even require him to stand up. Phillips, and 10-year-old from West Fork Elementary in Arkansas, refuses to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance to demonstrate his dismay regarding discrimination against gays and lesbians. According to Phillips, the U.S. has failed to provide equality and civil rights for homosexuals, and that goes against what the Pledge of Allegiance represents.
The politically charged boy told CNN that he is aspiring to be a lawyer, and merely wants to do what is right.
"I've grown up with a lot of people and I'm good friends with a lot of people who are gay and I think they should have the rights all people should," said Phillips.
On Monday, Oct. 5, when the other kids in his class stood up to recite the pledge of allegiance, Phillips remained sitting down. The class had a substitute teacher that week who tried to make him stand up. The student respectfully refused. He did it again the next day, and the next day. His parents have shown support for Phillips' protest.
However, his actions did not come without criticism from his peers. Phillips was taunted and called a "gaywad" by his classmates. But that didn't convince him to stop showing support for gay marriage. He continues to sit down for the Pledge.
One of the most difficult actions a child can take is to express a message that is not widely accepted among his peers. Kids generally strive to blend in with the crowd and not do anything that can possibly bring forth criticism. Phillips is not afraid of losing friends, or being punished for his actions. At an extremely young age, he was able to identify a massive injustice in a country that is supposed to be "the land of the free." He is not afraid to speak out against something he disagrees with, and that alone takes a great deal of courage.
Injustices are never corrected unless people are vocal about them. Kids like Phillips actually grow up to change the world and create a brighter future. His actions have nothing to do with a lack of patriotism, or disrespect for the country. Peaceful protest and political participation is what the founders of the Constitution encouraged.
Comments
Discrimination against Sodom and Gamorraheans?
They are one of the few "classes" that are protected against civil injustice.
Try being a straight, caucasian, divorced dad! Heck, maybe I should pretend I'm gay so I'll get special treatment too.
Please~ leave your politics out of our schools.
DRS
P.S.
Why am I not surprised that promoters of those peversions have no respect for the Pledge of Allegiance or the flag of our Country?
DRS
i wonder why she divorced you "DR."
drsanto, the fact that you failed at your marriage is your own damn fault. =)
Kids don't stand up for the pledge of allegiance a billion times to one just because they think it's cool to do so and with REAL DISRESPECTIVE INTENTIONS, unlike this kid who actually has a valid reason. I guess we better bite this kid's head off, huh drsanto?
How can politics be left out of school when you're basically expected to conform to standing up and reciting a pledge to the country?
And I'm sure you face as much issues as a "straight, Caucasian, divorced dad" than a homosexual does. Stop seeking pity and pull the religious hivemind wool from your eyes, please.
DrSanto's opinions sound like they're muffled through layers upon layers of clothing in a closet. =) Refreshing.
The article says At "an extremely young age, he was able to identify a massive injustice in a country that is supposed to be "the land of the free". Hmmm a massive injustice? someone is born with dark skin and they get treated differently that is an injustice. Someone decides to be gay, homosexual, lesbian, transexual, transgendered or whatever else you might come up with and they want to change the definition of what marriage is, that is not an injustice, that is insanity. Can anyone say Jerry Springer?
I've never stood up and worshiped the flag because I hated the word god, and I hated to pledge mass conformity. Why didn't anyone put me in the news?
Okay, drsanto, we'll take away your right to marry as well. My father is a straight divorced man and he doesn't hate people like you do. Obviously, you have a strange hang up about homosexuality, why am I not surprised that asses like you don't respect other's lives? This kid had a valid reason not to say the pledge, unlike other spoiled children (probably like the kids who called him "gaywad") who don't stand because they think they're being cool.
has more sense than most adults.
Hey Drsanto, even if it is a "perversion", "perverts" have right to free speech as well - even if it means not standing for the pledge.
I thought you Americans held free speech as paramount, arguably to the point of ludicrousness, where you refuse to believe that hate speech exists...and so I find it ironic that those who worship the constitution call those who practise the most American virtue of dissent, "traitors" and other such epithets.
This lil dude is arguably the most American out of anyone. Give him a gun and he could be president next year!
Self-sacrifice is what made our country great. This gives me hope.
Huh, the key word you use is "decide". If you think it is a choice, then you are likely to never be convinced. I guess you COULD argue that interracial couples DECIDED to get married, therefore, they should suffer the consequences of having it not be legal, right? Most Christians that believe in the Bible believe black people are cursed because of what their ancestors did and that's why they had to go through such injustices.
I wonder if the young boy, who happens to be more effeminate than other boys, is taunted at school and called horrible names because he made a choice?
If you believe in the Bible, show me EXACTLY where it says homosexuality was practiced in such a way and that it was the reason Sodom and Gomorrah fell. I, for one, believe it's a bunch of outdated BS that needs to step out of politics. Religion is what tells us gay marriage is a sin. It doesn't belong on a ballot. Separation of church and state!
that boy is thinking he is doing gays/lesbians a favor? If same sex marriage goes into world wide legally they are DOOMED.Look what that bring to heterosexuals.It kills your love life and sex life.Learn from our mistakes.i say legallize it for gays and ban it for the straights...but anyway all gay/lesbians should have the same rights straight people do.
btw when is someone gonna stand up for asexuals to have a right to get married.You don't need to be attracted to someone to get married right
That is amazing to me. At such a young age being so, I guess 'politically active', is great. I remember when I was that young... Well, I don't want to think about it after that...
This kid is pointing toward the light at the end of a tunnel.
Bless God. Bless the gays. Go forward!
Our History is Politics....On one hand we celebrate people who bucked the status quo, stood for what they believe in, stood up to power and refused to be bullied. Unfortunately, what I see now are Bullys saying it's unpatriotic to behave as an American. Even if you disagreed with this boy, you need to applaud the fact he's getting his point accross without violence, profanity, etc. This is how we're suppose to get our points accross boys and girls....
DRS try reading what the hate protection bill actually says.
Technically it applies to almost everyone here.
Try being a poor gay child who just got kicked out of his parents house and has nowhere to go. All because he came out the closet. Try again.
This kid showed some guts. I could never do something like this. I'm sick and tired of the "for the bible told me so" crowd. They make it seem like they are the only ones with conviction.
This boy and his parents are a disgrace. He lives in a country where you are allowed to stand up for your rights and change the laws. And here he is disgracing the very country and flag that allows him to do it. Does the ends justify the means? Can he make a pledge to this country that is trying to become a land where "Liberty and Justice for All" is a reality and not a destination? He should try to make this country stronger for fighting for his agenda and making changes if that is his choice. Not by showing disrepect to the country that allows him such a basic right to make changes.
"Dissent is the most patriotic thing you can do." Thomas Jefferson. That kid is a REAL american, not you fools who drape themselves in the American flag to hide your hate.
Wow. Once again, the kids are running the schools and doing what they want, even if it means disrespecting the flag. How in the world does his action help gays in any way? Does he not respect his country due to one issue?
There's a reason that the rights enumerated in the Constitution are frequently referred to as natural and inalienable. The right to free expression, including that of dissenting or irreverent views, is a prerogative inherent to every human being, and cannot be either endowed, or deprived, by any political authority. The rights are his to exercise as he desires. As a practical matter, he may incur certain consequences, but that's immaterial to the principle: human rights are innate, not bequeathed by any government that deigns to permit them through some act of beneficence. The minimum one should demand of any government that purports to be a pluralist democracy is freedom to engage in peaceful protest. His actions, in my view, are not unpatriotic, though, incidentally, patriotism isn't an intrinsic moral good; I'm certain there were multitudes of intensely patriotic Nazis, but I'd hardly be predisposed to regard them as moral exemplars on the strength of that personal attribute alone.
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So, does Will Phillips support liberty and justice for those who practice mutual polygamy, incest, pedophilia, bestiality? Don’t tell me Will Phillips is a discriminatory hater.
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Unfortunately, older generations are keeping bigotry alive. They cling to the socially accepted discrimination against gays as the last enemy, ever since their distant youth, that they could point to and declare as the reason for our society's shortfalls. Once hatred for gays is no longer accepted, they'll have to resort to another fabricated enemy of their mythical family values. They seems to be auditioning muslims for this inevitable and oh-so-important role to justify the eternal hate burning deep within their souls.
The "pledge" was forced upon children and parents by school superintendents. There was no democratic debate. It was written by a religious minister and socialist. The pledges even were required to do a nazi like solute until it became obvious that this indoctrination was a bit too similar to the third reichs techniques. It should be protested in itself as an exercise in unamerican rote conformity.
Heres the bellamy "nazi" salute which accompanied the "pledge" for 50 years:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pledge_salue.jpg
I'm from Arkansas originally and can tell you, this little dude definitely has the besticles of the testicles. The people on here hating on lil will at least have enough access to the internet to plausibly know better - imagine what those real backward hicks are saying to him!
I agree with AveJoe's comment, and like FlexSF, have not pledged my allegiance to the flag since 1977 when I learned in 7th grade (11 yrs old) that I couldn't be forced to do so by a ruling of the Supreme Court, for much the same reason, except I don't hate the word "god", its just a concept that never made sense to me.
The notion that a free people should be required to pledge their allegiance to a piece of cloth or to what it stands for (what does it stand for really?) is an oxymoron and a practice practiced by morons. Same goes for nationalism, patriotism, or any other mindless rhetoric dumb people spout out of their pie holes. How about we teach kids to actually think for themselves and give them some logic and reasoning skills instead of training them to be mindless parrots and obedient dogs? Oh, and while we're at it, how about we dispense with this moronic notion of preserving childhood innocence, the only thing kids need from us is teaching them how to become rational adults
The flag is not the country. You don't disrespect the country if you don't salute the flag. That's knee-jerk just like the manufactured outrage over flag lapel pins. Showing dissatisfaction with the state of affairs over one or more issues is the core of patriotism. We wouldn't be Americans if we didn't take issue with the Crown over taxation without representation, remember back in civics class.
Oh and thanks once again for equating gay relationships with pedophilia and bestiality. Stay classy. I hear they were in such a rush to discriminate against gays in Texas that they outlawed the entire institution of marriage by accident. Discrimination sure is important to some people...
The difference between homosexuality, and pedophilia and bestiality is that children and animals cannot give informed consent.
Thats whats wrong with this country. People want you to respect their views, but they dont want to respect others. A lot of people died for that flag, so you can be gay.
To "Sick of kids running schools:"
You asked how this helps gays in any way. Let me tell you how. I am a gay 13-year-old girl and when I heard this story on the Young Turks, I thought it was awesome. I'm so glad that kids that young are that open to gay people, understand the message of the pledge, and want to stand up for others' rights. I am now sitting defiantly in homeroom when we do the pledge as Will does. It's a little different in my school. It's a little more open towards gays at my school (we've got a GSA and everything), the refusal to say the Pledge has spread throughout my grade. That's one story of how Will helped a gay.
Also, N Waff, please do not compare gay people to pedophiles and beastophiles (if that's a word =D). It's not the same because gays can actually love each other, whereas relationships between an animal and a person are not mutual and a pre pubescent child can't discern feelings for an adult. However, I do support rights for polygamists.
Can someone explain to me how refusing to stand for the pledge is disrespectful? Especially when you don't agree with the pledge and you live the the land of the free. If he was setting the flag on fire every morning while the other children are receiting the pledge, then yes you could say hes being disrespectful.
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