The Pledge
I thought I'd initiate my blog with my thoughts on the pledge of alleigence and the whole 'god' thing. No real reason, just had an opinion all ready to be snipited.
The problem is not that "god" is in the Pledge but that children who don't believe in ANY god should have to utter it. It is an implicit support of Deistic or Monotheistic religion. It is not in keeping with the professed values of freedom of religion. Any idea that is presented in school or in the context of state controlled, funded or sponsored activities is an implicit acknowledgement that the state supports that idea and, by exclusion, does not support the opposite idea.
If the Pledge said ". . .one nation, godless" Then those who believe in a god would be unhappy or outraged. Or replace it with devil. Same effect.The reason so many religious people(an indeed some non-religious as well) find it so silly for the non-religious people to object to this phrase is because to them the phrase is benign. To live in a place that is hostile to you is difficult enough without being forced to acknowledge that your opinions have no weight.
No, the word "god" in the pledge does not hurt anyone explicitly. But it fortifies an idea of a US pseudo-theocracy. That Americans are those "under god."
What about those who do not see themselves as under god, any god? They are also Americans. And the pledge, as it stands, does not apply to them.
The problem is not that "god" is in the Pledge but that children who don't believe in ANY god should have to utter it. It is an implicit support of Deistic or Monotheistic religion. It is not in keeping with the professed values of freedom of religion. Any idea that is presented in school or in the context of state controlled, funded or sponsored activities is an implicit acknowledgement that the state supports that idea and, by exclusion, does not support the opposite idea.
If the Pledge said ". . .one nation, godless" Then those who believe in a god would be unhappy or outraged. Or replace it with devil. Same effect.The reason so many religious people(an indeed some non-religious as well) find it so silly for the non-religious people to object to this phrase is because to them the phrase is benign. To live in a place that is hostile to you is difficult enough without being forced to acknowledge that your opinions have no weight.
No, the word "god" in the pledge does not hurt anyone explicitly. But it fortifies an idea of a US pseudo-theocracy. That Americans are those "under god."
What about those who do not see themselves as under god, any god? They are also Americans. And the pledge, as it stands, does not apply to them.
posted by Lordsuhn at 12:07 PM
1 Comments:
Our Declaration of Independence specifically states "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The God in the Pledge of Allegiance is the Creator in the Declaration of Independence. Our founders did not want us not have a nation void of God. They didn't want the Government running the mandated state religion, like the Church of England. What say you to that?
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