I pledge allegiance..

Yesterday, for the first time since, oh, probably September, I remembered to say the pledge with my kids. Most of the people who read this probably know that I've never been much of a "patriot", and may find the idea of me leading 20 six and seven year olds in the pledge mildly amusing. You see, back in my f*** the government, punk rock mentality days, I had a pretty strong anti-America mindset that I have, mostly, grown out of. I no longer attempt to hang American flags upside down just to get a rise out of Sherry, though I do still roll my eyes at "God bless America" bumper stickers. I am grateful for the freedoms I have as an American, although I do not subscribe to an "America-Can-Do-No-Wrong" belief system.
That said, it suddenly occurred to me that my students should get off their duffs and say the pledge. After we promised our undying allegiance to America, we sat down and I asked my students if they knew what the words "liberty" and "justice" meant. After a brief, impromptu talk about freedom and fairness, I was ready to move on. That's when one of my students raised his hand and announced, "I know what under God means, too!” Although I knew it was a road I didn’t particularly want to travel, he was so loud that I couldn't pretend that I hadn’t heard him. Sigh. So, I asked him, "What do you think it means?” He replied, "It means that God is in your heart. And he wants you to do the right thing. He helps you be better" (and, here's the best part, I think),"If you don't listen to him, he flies out of your heart and into someone else's". "Yeah," chimed in another student, in complete earnestness, "He wants you to live a better life. He wants you to do the right thing. And he doesn't want you to be poor".