To answer your question: I think we're all better for it.

While I love living in this country and am thankful and admire what troops from yesterday and today are willing to do to protect us, I think when it comes to the pledge and the anthem it can get a little bit ethnocentric feeling. 

Patriotism is not a bad thing inherently. It is used to bind us together and give us a common ground and infuse a sense of teamwork. However, occasionally it can get a little too "This is America! This is the greatest country on earth! We're not gonna let foreign speakers take over our country!" sometimes. Over-patriotism can be very harmful and can grow blinders around our eyes. Sometimes we become a little isolated here in our minds and forget the whole human community around the rest of the world that is just like us.

So, if the pledge and the national anthem promote a feeling of superiority, that's when I think it's damaging. If it's just something you say before school or a sports game, something that makes you feel closer to your community and your sense of general purpose, it's no harm and it's actually a good thing. There is nothing wrong with feeling a strong connection to your country. That's what it's supposed to do: bond you to your home. But if it's perverted and turned into an excuse to discriminate, shove people out, kill innocent people, or cause us to think we're the best island in the world and everyone else sucks, that's when there is danger in it.

It comes down to whether or not to use it to create a sense of community or a sense of  superiority. It's all about what you make it and what it means to you and how it's used.