Last night I logged into Facebook to find this on my news feed:
I AM AN
UN-APOLOGETIC AMERICAN: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands; one nation
under GOD indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” I grew up
reciting this every morning in school; it is a shame we no longer do
………for… fear of offending someone. Now …let’s see how many Americans will re-post this and not care about offending someone.
UN-APOLOGETIC AMERICAN: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands; one nation
under GOD indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” I grew up
reciting this every morning in school; it is a shame we no longer do
………for… fear of offending someone. Now …let’s see how many Americans will re-post this and not care about offending someone.
As another unapologetic American, this offends me.
First, let’s set things straight: the founders of our nation DID NOT put “under God” in the pledge of allegiance, or “In God We Trust” on all of our currency. All of this anti-Constitutional, Christian propaganda was added in the 1950’s, during a wave of anti-communist fear (the same fear that allowed Senator McCarthy to flourish in that era). See The Pledge of Allegiance: Why We’re Not One Nation Under God http://www.slate.com/id/2067499 to read more.
Regardless of your feelings about Christianity’s role in American politics and public education, etc., the idea that the founding fathers’ implementation of God in relatively insignificant phrases within our government charters is some kind of justification for starting a Christian political initiative to allow the government to pump us full of Christian ideals is misguided in the least.
I would think, to a ”traditional” Republican (not a supporter of the big government Republicans in office in the last century) the idea of having our already bloated government usurp more of our freedom, most significantly our freedom of thought and choice when it comes to how we view our creation and what we teach our children regarding it, is quite appalling. The government meddles in our affairs enough already; I would prefer to choose how religion, in addition to what religion, is presented to my child, and I definitely don’t want the government and/or it’s employees and representatives playing preacher in addition to the other “big brother” roles it takes on all too often.
So the question I have to ask is: just how big do you want the government to grow? Just how much freedom do you want to give up? I guess that all depends on how much power and influence you want the government to have over your daily life. Furthermore, how much longer will America allow this Christian agenda to turn the Republican party into hypocrites of the highest order, manipulate political agenda, and ultimately destroy what very little traces are left of real Republican principles in the White House (i.e. small government, personal freedom and responsibility, free market capitalism, etc.)?
This isn’t about Christianity, it’s about taking power and influence from the American public. If it is really about Christianity, then the Christians pumping this agenda would be wise to follow their own Golden Rule and add to it, “Live and let live.” Isn’t that the whole point? Can we make a deal? How about this: Don’t trample on my rights and I won’t trample on yours.
Every law you make and everything you ask the government to step in and do for you only makes it stronger. Regardless of how you feel about God, he/she/it has no place in our pledge to our country. What makes this society great is our freedom- of religion too. What happened to tolerance? TOLERANCE- for this nation of immigrants of all religious creeds. Conservative Christians: follow your own Republican Party’s, and religion’s, most elemental principles and STOP LEGISLATING YOUR RELIGION! All Republicans and Americans: STAND UP, SPEAK OUT AND STOP ALLOWING THIS HYPOCRISY!
September 1st, 2010 at 8:13 am
In general I concur. I would however like to broaden the topic and search for the root of the problem. I have been a life long student of political thought and economic theory and I stand convinced that more government will not solve our problems. Sprawling government bureaucracies are firmly entrenched and I would love to see them dismantled. But I realize the chance of shrinking this federal behemoth is practically nil. We pay lip service to “personal responsibility” and “self reliance” but the reality is that an unhealthy sense of entitlement is the prevailing feeling in our country. We have become accustomed to relying on the government to handle such a wide variety of things for us. What is needed is a nation wide paradigm shift. Perhaps we are on our way. More and more charismatic and likeable voices are speaking out in these issues. I am one that usually avoids conversation about religion or politics, simply to avoid conflict. However, my silence and the silence of like-minded people, of which I suspect there are many, is now clearly part of the problem. To not speak out, to not get involved, is to give approval to this status quo.