Im not a big fan of pledges of any variety, and Im rather glad that I dont have to deal with such routine every day.
As far as I can tell, forcing people to pledge allegience is like telling kids to eat their broccoli. Forcing them to pledge is a pointless exercise; the people who love their country already don't need to do this to know where their heart is and know where they stand, and the ones who dont love their country arent going to be coaxed into it by forcing them to memorize and recite a string of patriotic verse. You cant force someone to love something, you cant force them to mean what they say - but just because they say it, doesnt mean they mean it. If people are to truly love and appreciate, they must come to find it themselves, give them something to be proud of and they will, force them to be proud of something they cannot just causes unnecessary stresses.
Even so, if you love your country and have nothing to prove, no reason to prove it to anyone, you shouldnt feel ashamed by not feeling it necessary to devote extra time and attention to something you believe in, and its of especially little importance whether or not people see you as 'patriotic' or not... Patriotism is fine, but its hardly a measure of your worth as part of humanity, I would go so far as to say the ones who are upset when people are not being patriotic are the ones who are unsure if they really mean what theyre saying when they recite something of that nature. Uncertainty and doubt breed fear which tends to breed anger and wanting to deflect attention away from themselves to someone who is a more open target to that which hits close to their own weakness/uncertainty. Maybe Im wrong, maybe Im right, I really dont care though... Im extremely patriotic, I love Canada and I wouldnt want to live anywhere else - does that mean I have to shout it from the rooftops or recite prose every morning? I hardly think so. Maybe some people think it actually matters... Who knows... But I certainly don't think ill of you, dear martha.