And never forget, that since no god or gods exist it makes the assumption that all Americans are foolish and ignorant.
By what latitude of construction, did our federal Congress have the power to Establish any form of Religion by government fiat?
We don't need a State religion, but merely the Establishment of A Religion via a public act to bear false witness to our Founding Fathers and the excellent job they did at the Convention, with our federal Constitution and supreme law of the land. Why are professional athletes subjected to higher moral Standards than our elected representatives to government who take an oath to support our Constitution?
That may or may not be. I don't really see such a culture as necessary, or even desirable. The question was why would some people not want to recite the pledge. I gave my reasons. I don't see any reason for the pledge to be necessary to a "well regulated" militia, nor do I believe that a state that can compel service is just or free. It may grant relatively more privileges than other states, but slavery and freedom are mutually incompatible. Either you own yourself, and decide when to serve, or the state owns you and decides when you are to be forced to serve or punished for disobedience. I am forced to accept a political system, just as are you and everyone else. I cannot choose a political system, and a government, that suits me.
"One nation under God" is still collectivist religious rhetoric. I am neither a collectivist nor a religious person.
We have a Second Amendment which specifically enumerates the necessity of a well regulated militia as being necessary to the security of a free State. In my opinion, a culture of militia service could be more "desirable" than what we have now. I am not sure why you do not seem to recognize that civil persons under our form of federal Government, delegated some powers to our State governments and the general government of the Union, as being indispensable to Order and Government. I would state that we are free to vote and associate as we choose.
In this day and age a militia, well regulated or not is worthless. That makes the second amendment nonsense as is much of the constitution. It is nearly 250 years out of date, and even Jefferson said it should be rewritten (NOT AMENDED) every 20 years. No militia can stand up to any military organization. Even the Worst army in the world could defeat any civilian militia without trying. At the time of the American revolution, the difference between a militia and an army was hard to tell, other than organization, uniforms and leadership they were basically the same. No tanks, no missiles, no bombers, etc. Lets keep the pledge and toss out the constitution and hold a new constitutional convention and create a document fit for modern times and leave the dusty, and all but useless current one in a museum where it belongs.
Most States have "militias" that may be considered well regulated by the State, if not the general government of the Union. You may not be aware that the various Militia Acts have not been repealed or nullified, merely not enforced as well as our War on Drugs has been. Our Founding Fathers believed that standing armies should not be needed in times of relative peace and is a reason for the necessity of a well regulated militia to the security of a free State.
The Virginia State Militia could not successfully defend the city dog pound. The founding fathers views on most things are foolish in today's situations. Their views on a Militia is just one of many examples.
WTF? What are you talking about? This kid has the inalienable right not to have to feel loyalty to this country, nor to have to pledge allegiance to it! The pledge of allegiance is nothing more than a brain washing tool we use on our children to make sure they don't question their loyalties to a corrupt government. The constitution was meant to protect us from this. It wasn't until the right wing religious bigots, nuts, and fundamentalists jumped into the mix and began to subtly undercut our personal freedoms that our civil liberties ended up in jeopardy in the first place. I would never allow my children to pledge allegiance to the flag. Never ever!
At least we have even less excuse for not recognizing the banner of the militia of the United States.
Actually the only thing that changed was that the government slowly moved the country towards disarmament. There was a time when nearly every child in the country knew how to fire a gun and most owned their own guns, now it could be considered child abuse to let a child own a gun. It's there subtle way of making sure that we can't defend ourselves. This didn't happen because of social mores, but rather the direct influence of the government, through education and social indoctrination. The founding fathers understood that a standing military was a threat to democracy, especially if the loyalty of that military was not to the government but to the military itself. Ask yourself, why does the government feel so threatened by people bearing arms? It's a simple answer, but don't say crime, because that's not the truth. JJ
Its not forcing a religion on you,overall i think your just being a whiny *itch, I used to be atheist and i didnt have a problem with the God part, i thought that if people want to belive in God they can, then i converted. So yeah, your just a whiny *rick.
I have to agree here. You're not pledging your life and service to the "government". You're pledging it to the ideas of the United States. The idea that it's the best country on Earth. There's nothing wrong with some national pride, and I don't care what kind of indoctrination it is. And I rather like the last part..."with liberty and justice for all".
I would like to address this if I may. I think being an American is many more things than saying a pledge, saluting a flag, or not harming a certain bird. Just because you say or do these things, shows no more "loyalty" to ones country than one who does not. Being an American is a huge blessing and responsibility that cannot be measured by simple acts like the above.
The concept of even having a pledge of allegiance is troublesome to begin with. It stinks of nationalism. Whatever your teachers or classmates tell you, what you're doing is brilliant and very brave, and more people need to be doing exactly this. Incidentally, I'm from Scotland, and someone from my country was the one responsible for the "under god" part of the pledge, so on behalf of my country, I apologise. If you love your country, do it by living your life and calling out its citizens or government when it screws up. That's true patriotism. Blind obedience and chanting a pledge is something far darker than patriotism.
Living in country that espouses freedom and then being required to say a silly pledge of allegience is counter to those freedoms. Is it not?
From my perspective, it is due to our elected representatives being "immoral" enough to bear false witness to our own supreme law of the land regarding the establishment of Religion. Is it any coincidence that we also don't have any anti-hypocrisy laws to go along with our McCarthy era phrase in our pledge.
Okay. So reading a handful of these posts finally got me to think about the pledge’s contents. It just dawned on me that it makes no sense whatsoever for me to recite it - even with the words “under God” omitted. So for now on I’ll just stand at attention out of respect for others reciting the pledge with a clenched fist of solidarity over my heart. That should suffice. I have no sense of loyalty to the stars and stripes, only feel a bond with and cooperate with the state because I like the social contract I’m currently signed onto, commit to a set of principles and values instead of unconditionally defending any particular nation or regime, do not believe in supernatural beings or phenomena, reckon that ours is a union that should be divisible if people in any particular part of it someday want independence, and I’m unconvinced that the system in place satisfactorily affords my perception of liberty and justice for all. To top it all off, it takes a solid red, UN, or Olympic flag to elicit any kind of emotional response in, or garner some awe from me nowadays. Heh. When I put it that way there is really no denying I am an ardent believer in cosmopolitanism. If anything, from time to time I may sing the “Hymn for Nations” when in the presence of a flag if a good opportunity arises. Oh well. To each their own I suppose, and props to the original poster for their courage!
