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Actually I think this whole "pledge of allegience" thing that has to be said everyday in school is ridiculous. Big deal, so the kids say these words, what does that do for us? Absolutely nothing.
Singing the song, "My country 'tis of thee", it isn't chorus class. I think this should be abolished also.
Not because I don't believe in it, but I see no point to make kids have to stand up every day and salute a piece of material and say something. I don't see the point, nor the necessity. it serves no purpose at all.
I think so many of the things "man" makes up is retarded. I think all opur practices rules and regulations and laws all need a severe update, and now.
I'm with you. I consider myself to be a proud American and pretty patriotic. But I've always felt like having little children stand up and recite this pledge in unison every.single.day. is a little creepy. Never mind the fact that they're professing something that they don't even really understand. But it just feels a bit cultish.
Yes, this is how the radical left legislates..through lawsuits...when they know the vote won't go in their favor. Once again they want to remove any and all vestiges of religion, specifically Christianity, from the public sphere. The "United States of the Offended. It doesn't matter that they don't have to say the pledge or the words "under God". It's all about how the children "feel" (actually it's probably how the parents feel) for other children reciting the whole pledge. Again, nowhere in our constitution do the words "separation of church and state" appear. In fact it states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Or, to quote the legal institute "Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the "separation of church and state."(note: their quote) Some governmental activity related to religion has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. For example, providing bus transportation for parochial school students and the enforcement of "blue laws" is not prohibited. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person's practice of their religion". So how is saying the pledge of allegiance all of a sudden preferring one religion over another? But this doesn't seem to matter to those who create their own reality...
I'd consider myself religious but just on principle, I always say when reciting the pledge "...in Bob we trust" while imagining Bob Newhart in a suit of armor.
I guess many people today are unaware that "under God" was not added to the pledge until 1954. It took lawyers 7 years to get that through congress.
Quote:
Addition of "under God"
"Under God" redirects here. For the book, see Under God (book).
Louis A. Bowman, an attorney from Illinois, was the first to initiate the addition of "under God" to the Pledge. The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution gave him an Award of Merit as the originator of this idea.[13][14] He spent his adult life in the Chicago area and was Chaplain of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. At a meeting on February 12, 1948,[13] Lincoln's Birthday, he led the Society in swearing the Pledge with two words added, "under God." He stated that the words came from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Though not all manuscript versions of the Gettysburg Address contain the words "under God", all the reporters' transcripts of the speech as delivered do, as perhaps Lincoln may have deviated from his prepared text and inserted the phrase when he said "that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom." Bowman repeated his revised version of the Pledge at other meetings.[13]
In 1951, the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, also began including the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.[15] In New York City, on April 30, 1951, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the text of their Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation." Over the next two years, the idea spread throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. On August 21, 1952, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The National Fraternal Congress meeting in Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar resolution upon the recommendation of its president, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart. Several State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately thereafter. This campaign led to several official attempts to prompt Congress to adopt the Knights of Columbus’ policy for the entire nation. These attempts were eventually a success.[16]
In 1952, Susan Anald wrote a letter to President Truman suggesting the inclusion of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Langmack was a Danish philosopher and educator who came to the United States in 1911. He was one of the originators of the Prayer Breakfast and a religious leader in Washington, D.C. President Truman met with him along with several others to discuss the inclusion of "under God" just before "with liberty and justice".[citation needed]
At the suggestion of a correspondent, Representative Louis C. Rabaut (D-Mich.),of Michigan sponsored a resolution to add the words "under God" to the Pledge in 1953.
Rev. Dr. George MacPherson Docherty (left) and President Eisenhower (second from left) on the morning of February 7, 1954, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church
Prior to February 1954, no endeavor to get the Pledge officially amended succeeded. The final successful push came from George MacPherson Docherty. Some American presidents honored Lincoln's birthday by attending services at the church Lincoln attended, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church by sitting in Lincoln's pew on the Sunday nearest February 12. On February 7, 1954, with President Eisenhower sitting in Lincoln's pew, the church's pastor, George MacPherson Docherty, delivered a sermon based on the Gettysburg Address titled "A New Birth of Freedom." He argued that the nation's might lay not in arms but its spirit and higher purpose. He noted that the Pledge's sentiments could be those of any nation, that "there was something missing in the pledge, and that which was missing was the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life." He cited Lincoln's words "under God" as defining words that set the United States apart from other nations.
President Eisenhower had been baptized a Presbyterian very recently, just a year before. He responded enthusiastically to Docherty in a conversation following the service. Eisenhower acted on his suggestion the next day and on February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), introduced a bill to that effect. Congress passed the necessary legislation and Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.[17] Eisenhower stated "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.... In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war."[18]
The phrase "under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance June 14, 1954, by a Joint Resolution of Congress amending §4 of the Flag Code enacted in 1942.[17]
On October 6, 1954 the National Executive Committee of the American Legion adopted a resolution, first approved by the Illinois American Legion Convention in August 1954, which formally recognized the Knights of Columbus for having initiated and brought forward the amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance.[16]
I remember all the hoopala conspiracy theories fighting it on the basis it was a Catholic idea and was the first step of the Pope taking over the country.
I'd consider myself religious but just on principle, I always say when reciting the pledge "...in Bob we trust" while imagining Bob Newhart in a suit of armor.
No, no, no ... you're getting confused with our money. It's "... one nation, under Bob, indivisible..."
I distinctly remember having it drilled into my head in high school, post 9-11, that there is no pause after "one Nation", so it's properly "One nation under Bob, indivisible..."
Does anyone know what other countries routinely start their school days with such a pledge?
Don't Muslims believe in God? and Jews? This isn't really a Christian thing, although they probably push it the most, it is more whether you believe there is a God, under any name, or not.
If the "god" could be any god, that's one of the reasons Christians should seriously consider whether they should say the pledge at all.
When the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans about their duties to the king, he said, pay the taxes the king requires, honor the king's officials, and obey the laws...but don't obligate yourself to anything but love. He advised the Corinthians to avoid making themselves slaves--IOW, making personal obligations.
I'd carefully consider whether any Christian should "pledge allegiance"--make a moral obligation--to any earthly government....especially invoking God.
We should remember the creator of the pledge was against any change to the pledge. That the pledge's writer family stated that the author was against the inclusion of the words "under god".
The creator of the pledge btw gave sermons on Jesus the Socialist in which the teachings of Jesus were to used to promote the equal distribution of economic resources and was a Socialist . He a minister was forced out of his Boston pulpit because of his sermons and stopped attending church after he moved to Florida due to the racism he witnessed in the Florida churches.
In fact we changed the salute to the pledge from what the creator created.
This is what it looked like pre 1942.
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