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Making the pledge

Apparently there is a push (from somewhere left of center) for college graduates to take "the pledge." I noticed it at a Manchester College peace studies site, and it has taken up the cause. Obviously, the definition of "peace" has expanded a bit since I attended Manchester in the 1950s. It's not about war anymore, or personal behavior. They don't pledge to abstain from promiscuous sex; or to be responsible in their use of alcohol; or to make changes in their community by running for office or voting regularly; or to be pleasant and non-confrontational at work; or to avoid jobs that will support the killing of the unborn, or euthanizing the sick and elderly; or to only look for jobs that will pay off their college loans so their parents or future spouse aren't burdened with debt. The students get to define "responsible," so maybe they will do the right things. But they do pledge to consider the environment, and it started on the left coast. Surprise, surprise.

"Humboldt State University (California) initiated the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. It states, "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work." Students define what being "responsible" means to themselves. Students at over a hundred colleges and universities have used the pledge at some level, at schools which range in size from Whitman, to Harvard, to University of Wisconsin. This now includes some schools overseas, graduate and professional schools, and high schools. Graduates who voluntarily signed the pledge have turned down jobs they did not feel morally comfortable with and have worked to make changes once on the job. For example, they have promoted recycling at their organization, removed racist language from a training manual, worked for gender parity in high school athletics, and helped to convince an employer to refuse a chemical weapons-related contract."

Didn't people always do this without signing a pledge card? Would someone who registered as a CO for the draft 40 years ago have gone to work in the armaments industry? In the 80s I refused to apply for a women's studies position at the OSU library because I knew I'd have to buy books that supported abortion; I refuse to buy stock in companies that make their profits creating alcohol or tobacco products, which in turn creates death; I don't want viaticals in my retirement portfolio; I won't buy tickets to movies or plays or buy or read books that demean and ridicule women; I write to advertisers of shows that ridicule and criticize Christians; I regularly write my congresswoman who is a Republican in name only and remind her of conservative principles; I let my pastors know when the message is weak and not gospel centered, offering false hope; I recommend books to my public library, even when I know I'm ignored; I don't laugh at jokes or watch TV programs that belittle women or Christians or the elderly or the not-so-bright; I tithe my income and I'm pretty careful to whom it goes; I am an advocate for the Mexican people's government shaping up and creating opportunity in their own country; and I would have never needed a pledge made at college graduation to know that racist language had no place in a training manual, but I'd have to be pretty desperate for a cause to turn down work because of gender parity in athletics or anything else.

The pledge was seen at something written by Neil Wollman, Senior Fellow, Peace Studies Institute, Manchester College. I'm not sure how old the item was, but it seems Manchester now is the source for this pledge that originated in California.