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a federal appeals court declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional Wednesday because of the words "under God" added by Congress in 1954.
Next I suppose we will declare the Declaration of Independence unconstitutional because it refers to the "Creator". It is most definitely time for the revolution to begin.
Posted by Robert at June 26, 2002 01:51 PMhello.
You have written alot on american citizens, and how they must not be told what to do, and how to act by others, however, the pledge, though not quite unconstitutional, is sometimes offensive. I am unitarian, and i have almost had enough of being told what to do by southern baptists. I will bet you one million dollars that if the pledge had said "under Allah" it would have been changed at once. You must not forget, all americans are not christian or pray to a "god." Besides, the pledge did not even contain the phrase "under god" until 1954 under President Eisenhower. So why not just put it back? Our forefathers did not say the pledge that way. Remember, the first white settlers came to escape religious persecution. We have no need to change the declaration because it is a historical document (written almost entirely by a unitarian, by the way)and is part of our history.
it is the tryanny of the majority.
Posted by: irene on July 2, 2002 04:10 PMIrene,
Thanks for your comments.
is sometimes offensive
I understand that the Pledge of Allegiance may be offensive to some. But I am hard pressed to think of anything that wouldn't be offensive to someone. The somewhat occultic symbols on our dollar bills is offensive to me. We don't have a right not to be offended.
I am unitarian, and i have almost had enough of being told what to do by southern baptists.
What does this have to do with the Pledge of Allegiance? I am not Southern Baptist, nor are most of the bizillions of people who were outraged by this ruling.
if the pledge had said "under Allah"
The Pledge of Allegiance does not and will not say "under Allah" because we are not a Muslim nation. We are a Christian nation - not officially, but practically. Last set of statistics I saw said over 80% of Americans claim to be Christian.
If this were Saudi Arabia, I would expect the pledge to say "under Allah". If it were Israel, I'd expect it to say "under G-d". Or under Krishna or Zeus or Buddha or whoever. And I wouldn't complain.
phrase "under god" until 1954
Why did it take almost 50 years to "discover" that it was unconstitutional?
it is the tryanny of the majority.
Nobody is being required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I do not think anyone should be required to. This lawsuit did not allege that the child was required to pledge allegiance to the flag. The complaint was that the other children were voluntarily saying the pledge. That is the tyranny of the minority.
Posted by: Robert on July 3, 2002 08:44 AMvery well said.
But why does the pledge even say "under god"? It is not needed. It is not historical, useful (except in rhyme scheme), or respectful. Muslims are the second largest religious group in the US. Their growth rate is up 25% and own more than one fifth of the population worldwide. Besides, if america is to be the "melt in pot, or tossed salad" like it claims, it must realize that everyone is not christian, but many, many are patriotic.
But in the long run, i think it will be over-turned. You could argue that if you come to america, you just have to take it with a smile. After it is voluntary, and ive been saying it with out under god for years.
nice talking to you.
Posted by: irene on July 3, 2002 01:16 PMI think all this is way over the top. Once we started moving "God" out of the things is when life seems to start unraveling. "God" even though to Christians is our higher being, but even if you read the bible, he goes by many different names in many different religions. I was married to Muslim and had this debate with a friend of the family who was extremely religious and after much research found that "Allah" in the muslim religion is the same GOd that we as Christians worship. He is all things to many people. When the Consitution and such was written the "We" that is in there doesn't refer to just a certain group of people. It refers to the masses. Some chose to believe God refers to "one", I chose to believe he is all things to many people
Posted by: jennifer on March 5, 2003 01:16 PM