Not For The Easily Offended

A video shown to Utah elementary students urges them to pledge allegiance to the united funk of funkadelica. Typical wingnuttery ensues.

Parents upset over ‘leftist propaganda’ video – Salt Lake Tribune

Gayle Ruzicka, president of conservative Utah Eagle Forum, said the video was blatantly political. She said other offensive pledges included, “I pledge to be of service to Barack Obama,” “I pledge allegiance to the funk, to the united funk of funkadelica,” and pledges to not use plastic grocery bags and not flush the toilet after urinating.

“It’s very inappropriate to show a radical, leftist propaganda piece that political to children,” Ruzicka said. “If parents want their children to learn about those things and do them in the home, wonderful, fine, but it’s not the place of the school to show a one-sided propaganda piece to children without parents knowing about it.”

Cieslewicz said such values should be decided in the home, not at school.

“They shouldn’t be troubling our youth with the woes of the world and making them feel like we’re in slavery or they have to worry about how many times they flush the toilet or if they have a plastic water bottle,” Cieslewicz said, referring to pledges in the video to “end slavery.”

Ruzicka said she contacted local media about the video after receiving complaints from several parents. Ruzicka said she worried the video’s messages would confuse children whose parents might choose to use plastic bags when shopping or who want their children to flush the toilet after every use. Also she said she didn’t like a pledge “to be of service to Barack Obama” as he is here to serve Americans, not the other way around.

Ruzicka said she’d like to see the school district send a link to the video to all parents before an upcoming back-to-school night so they can voice their opinions and discuss it with their children. Williams said it’s unlikely the district will send out a link, but parents are welcome to access the video on YouTube.