Step right up and get your paint chips and tin foil hats, ladies and gentlemen. The American Humanist Association and their representatives are more than happy to help you out should you choose NOT to stand for The Pledge of Allegiance. The latest shameless plug for the organization comes to us via Salon (color us shocked on that one) in an article penned by the AHA’s very own Dave Niose.

If there are concerns about anti-intellectualism and even fascistic tendencies in American society nowadays, the practice of daily national exaltation has relevance. If you truly love America and the values “for which it stands,” there’s only one thing to do: scrap the Pledge of Allegiance.

The “Humanist” approach is defined as: a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

Niose’s arguments for scrapping the pledge stem from his experience encountering students in schools nationwide who are “pledge dissenters”. His arguments center around First Amendment rights and students’ freedom to not participate: