Why do we need to pledge allegiance to an inanimate thing, like a flag or a song?

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

11. We don't "need" to do so, whether to an inanimate . . .

. . . or an animate object. To my mind, at least, the very notion of a making a unilateral, unenforceable "pledge" to anything is a pointless, indeed, silly exercise. Reciting one's marriage vows; taking an oath of office to "defend the Constitution," or whatnot, in assuming an office that requires such an oath; or swearing in court before giving testimony are meaningful acts insofar as they constitute a public acknowledgement of the change of status, or the attachment of real conditions, that are associated with one's making such a pledge, along with an acknowledgement that consequences can follow the violation of that pledge.

But "pledging allegiance" to the flag, or anything else, where the pledge itself is not in any real way binding, and to which no consequences attach, is a meaningless gesture, akin to some teenager telling another teenager that he/she will love the other "til the end of time" or whatever. Empty words. What's the point?