Originally Posted by ZacD

2nd of all he did stand out of respect, but he didn't say it or place his hand over his heart.

No actually, he refused to stand up showing that lack of respect, which was the whole issue in context of "Taking a stand by sitting down" I'm sure if he would have stood up and not said the pledge and it would have most likely been overlooked by the teacher. His refusal to stand with the rest of his class and lack of respect shown to the teacher is what got the little brat in trouble to begin with... The teacher asked him to stand and he told her with all due respect go jump off a bridge. Little shit needed to get paddled. Plain and simple.

The larger issue is the whole I'm not going to recite the pledge for equal rights is another facet to the story which the media is clinging on too, which is fine but the kid is still a little brat that needs to respect his elders a little more. You can still have your beliefs but for fucks sake show some respect and and lets not put this kid up on a fucking pedestal for gay/lesbian rights because he doesn't respect his elders.

Okay, I watched the whole thing.

And yes, the kid is still a precocious little smart-ass. Yes, he's more intelligent than your average 10-year old. But that certainly doesn't make his point valid. He just has an above-average vocabulary, and a belligerent desire to use it.

If he had actually been thoughtful, he would have waited to pull this particular stunt until his regular teacher returned. Putting a substitute teacher through a controversial publicity stunt is just cruel. And telling his substitute teacher that she could "jump off a bridge" was completely uncalled for. If he was so insistent on his stance, then he should have been more patient, and stuck to his guns.

I'm not saying that the name-calling he has endured is warranted. It should have been expected, this is grade school after all, but it is not warranted.

You'll notice that when asked to actually quantify his decision at the end of the interview, the boy has no answer. He has made a decision based on his exposure to other people and their opinions, but he hasn't actually put any thought into the stance he has taken. I already pointed out this flaw in his logic. Reasoning like his can be used to deny the pledge of allegiance based on any perceived slight. Where does it stop?

Originally Posted by Richard Kain

I already pointed out this flaw in his logic. Reasoning like his can be used to deny the pledge of allegiance based on any perceived slight. Where does it stop?

He's 10.

ah for fucks sake, hes a little kid man. thoughtfulness at that age is not pissing on the wall next to the urinal. Besides, he's a little nerd child, and probably doesnt have a bunch of buddies. And his belligerent desire to use that massive ten year old lexicon may just make him feel good about himself when other kids just put him down.

Cant wait for the news when he reads about the Waldens, or Clinton, both Arkansas spawn.

Originally Posted by ElysiumGX

He's 10.

An excellent point, and certainly undeniable. But this only raises other questions.

1. Why on earth did this warrent a seven-minute news story on CNN?

2. Who are these homosexual friends he claims to have, and why are they pushing their political ideology on an impressionable 10 year old boy?

3. What kind of example does this set for today's youth?

What we are seeing here is the larval form of Jack Thompson. This is an entitled, self-righteous child who makes decisions without thinking about them, and then wages public campaigns in an effort to further a misguided agenda, and captuer attention. This kind of behaviour should not be encouraged.

Kid takes a stand on a subject he doesn't understand. This really isn't worth writing extended dialogues over. You can practically see the strings in the video anyway. Dance, my little media darling, dance!

At least it's giving people a moment to think about the pledge itself and what it's supposed to mean rather than taking it for granted as a meaningless memorized series of words.

Hahaha, wow, if I didn't know better I'd say we have a couple of guys on the boards who are jealous that a 10 year old has a higher vocabulary and a greater critical thinking ability than they do.

The idea that this was some kind of conspiracy by his parents is so awesomely silly I don't even get how people are claiming it. That someone actually thinks that they would plan that their son sitting down during the pledge of allegiance because the inevitable end to doing so is getting on CNN is crazy.

Also, for respecting your elders... fuck that. Think for yourselves you retards, that's the kind of idiocy that causes these problems in the first place. This kid was refusing to do the pledge in class, for good reasons, and his teacher was trying to force him. For days. He had every right to tell the bitch where to go and what to do. Blindly following people because they are "elders" is an outdated, moronic viewpoint. Following people because they have earned respect is not, however even then it should not be blindly.

Finally, the kid seems to understand what he's saying well enough to me. Freedom and liberty for all... some people aren't free to marry, or in many states even be public about their sexual preference or who their love is. That is not freedom. Thus, a 10 year old kid has figured out and explained what some adults on these boards still can't. Sad. Very, very, sad guys.

Originally Posted by Richard Kain

This is asinine.

Asinine

Creates repeated indepth, TL;DR posts about the logical/illogical thought processes of a 10 year old.

This kid reminds me of someone else:

IN BEFORE THE LOCK!!

itt a 10-year-old kid makes grown men fight

bunch of arse

the kid that interviewed Snoop dog was way more awesome

Originally Posted by Tulkamir

Hahaha, wow, if I didn't know better I'd say we have a couple of guys on the boards who are jealous that a 10 year old has a higher vocabulary and a greater critical thinking ability than they do.

.....

Also, for respecting your elders... fuck that. Think for yourselves you retards, that's the kind of idiocy that causes these problems in the first place. This kid was refusing to do the pledge in class, for good reasons, and his teacher was trying to force him. For days. He had every right to tell the bitch where to go and what to do. Blindly following people because they are "elders" is an outdated, moronic viewpoint. Following people because they have earned respect is not, however even then it should not be blindly.

...

If my kid is in school I would expect him to respect his teachers, and those around him. He can disagree with the pledge and that's fine just don't say it. But if an adult asks your kid to do something reasonable, you do it. You don't have to make it a big issue. The issue was he didn't show respect to the teacher and then to top it off insulted her. The whole issue of the pledge not being fair to gays/lesbians is secondary fact of the kid not being respectful in the first place.

Way to go, insult those who don't agree with you as well. Jealous and retards... way to label those with views that differ then yours. You'll go far. Your parents must be proud.

I agree with Tulkamir, your beliefs and values are more important that listening to your elders/authoritative figure. But I can also see how it'd be an issue with a sub-teacher, with him causing disturbances.

Originally Posted by ZacD

I agree with Tulkamir, your beliefs and values are more important that listening to your elders/authoritative figure.

Yes and I can agree with that, but asking the kid to stand up during the pledge doesn't affect his beliefs in any way... saying the actual pledge would. Either way the kid is rude and doesn't deserve an apology from the school.

Tell us how you really feel, Tulkamir.

Clearly, anyone who supports gay marraige doesn't know what they're talking about.

Everyone knows gays are just as free as everyone else. They're free to shut up, free to go away, and free to not be allowed to marry. That right there is a whole lot of free. Asking for more free's is just plain rude. They have plenty of free's to begin with!

Allowing gays to marry would infringe on our god given right to prevent gays from marrying. This little gaywad is trying to take away our freedoms!

You know, there was a point in time where people thought black people should not be allowed the same rights as other people. Then, over time, people realized that belief was really fucking stupid and stopped believing it. We also thought women didn't deserve the same rights as men, and then we realized that's really fucking stupid and stopped believing it.

But if Americans are good at anything it's being completely incapable of learning from history, so clearly there is nothing wrong with restricting the rights of gays, and clearly this kid is just a rude and disrespectful punk who doesn't know what he's talking about. Clearly, standing upright is more important than the rights of gay people, because they're gay. If he was sitting down in protest of communism, that would be one thing, but sitting down to support gay people? Disrespectful!

Originally Posted by acc

You know, there was a point in time where people thought black people should not be allowed the same rights as other people. Then, over time, people realized that belief was really fucking stupid and stopped believing it. We also thought women didn't deserve the same rights as men, and then we realized that's really fucking stupid and stopped believing it.

And look where that got us.

I DEMAND MORE REPARATIONS!! I bet he also spits on the flag on dead soldiers coffins.

Originally Posted by acc

Clearly, standing upright is more important than the rights of gay people, because they're gay. If he was sitting down in protest of communism, that would be one thing, but sitting down to support gay people? Disrespectful!

Maybe if gay people weren't so gay they'd have rights too!

Nice post btw.

acc: I'm confused, who are you responding to with that?

It's not support of gay people, that's the thing. It's acknowledging hypocrisy. I got called gay in school (continually) for trying to get some kids to stop fighting one day; it's a completely irrelevant accusation, whether or not I am actually gay. The newscaster here seemed like a dick. He would probably have called the kid gay and snickered about it. Yeah. He's probably in the closet, too.

Originally Posted by Richard Kain

Getting on television is not a laudable aspiration. I've seen some of the people that they show on television these days. No thank you.

And what is his message again? That not everyone gets "liberty and justice?" How does he come to this conclusion? Which minority in particular isn't granted basic civil liberties, or is denied justice? Who isn't being allowed to purchase property, get a fair trial by a jury of their peers, vote in general elections, etc...?

If an Arkansas youth wants to refuse to recite something, that is his right. Perhaps it wasn't his right back before WWII, but he hadn't even been born then. (rendering that bit of trivia moot in the current circumstances) No one is really denying him this right. And I don't really see any other basic rights being violated or ignored.

He would have a more defensible argument saying that he objects to the use of the word "indivisable," since it's use implies that state's don't have the right to secede.

Also, you can't say that children are more intelligent than we give them credit for, and then turn around and excuse this boy's lapse in logic because he's young. It's either one or the other.

Originally Posted by 8FtSpider

This kid reminds me of someone else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwog6E08CFU

IN BEFORE THE LOCK!!

You don't salute during the National Anthem, which is what this footage is from, and while some people salute during the National Anthem, it's not required like during the pledge.

Seriously, I love (and by that I mean I'm amused by) people's idea that the pledge is something holy. The US is such a fucked up country, why the hell does it deserve mindless brainwashed support and respect by children? Should they salute the idea of the highest imprisonment percentage in the world? How about the foreign wars that are creating untold suffering and deaths without cause or reason. How about the still instituted racism, gender inequality, lack of basic housing, education, and healthcare. Should the salute the crooked government that rewards wall street, fucked up car companies, and health care companies while leaving the citizens high and dry?

I was forced to say the pledge as a kid, and I didn't know better like this kid obviously does. I'm so glad to escape that hellhole, and I'm glad this kid is in the news. It's more newsworthy than Sarah Palin, or her ghost written error riddled book.

Originally Posted by Vrav

The newscaster here seemed like a dick. He would probably have called the kid gay and snickered about it. Yeah. He's probably in the closet, too.

Originally Posted by Richard Kain

This is asinine. Does this child realize what the pledge of allegiance represents? For starters, no one is actually going to force him to say it. The pledge of allegiance is an awknoledgement of a person's citizenship to the United States. Refusing to get off your ass and say it in order to make a political statement is useless. If he wanted to make a genuine statement, he would attempt to get his citizenship revoked.

Of course, if he did that, he would no longer be allowed to attend public school. And at that point he won't have to worry about the peer pressure of reciting the pledge of allegiance.

You could use the exact same logic to attempt to further any political agenda or minority ideology. This is the laziest type of protest, and an obvious bid for attention. What a waste of time.

Lol, look how dumb you are.

Originally Posted by Richard Kain

Getting on television is not a laudable aspiration. I've seen some of the people that they show on television these days. No thank you.

And what is his message again? That not everyone gets "liberty and justice?" How does he come to this conclusion? Which minority in particular isn't granted basic civil liberties, or is denied justice? Who isn't being allowed to purchase property, get a fair trial by a jury of their peers, vote in general elections, etc...?

If an Arkansas youth wants to refuse to recite something, that is his right. Perhaps it wasn't his right back before WWII, but he hadn't even been born then. (rendering that bit of trivia moot in the current circumstances) No one is really denying him this right. And I don't really see any other basic rights being violated or ignored.

He would have a more defensible argument saying that he objects to the use of the word "indivisable," since it's use implies that state's don't have the right to secede.

Also, you can't say that children are more intelligent than we give them credit for, and then turn around and excuse this boy's lapse in logic because he's young. It's either one or the other.

Wow, double dumb. How about the fact that blacks couldn't marry whites and were owned as property for a while in the good ol US of A within this century? How about the fact that gay, lesbian, and bi people cannot marry their preferred gender, which is indeed a right denied them, granted straight couples currently. Marriage is a legal contract in the US that's been hijacked by the church, and it carries legal rights with it that gay couples are currently denied, 1,400 legal rights in some states.

Also why is it every time we have a thread about civil rights, the people with the absolute DUMBEST, most ignorant viewpoints, have Texas listed as their location?

By the way, it's a rhetorical question. I lived there for 2 years, I know why.

ROFL, I've heard stories of how close minded Texas is... in general.