Have you heard? In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled that the "under God" addition to the Pledge of Allegiance is not unconstitutional. What!?
Here's the article.
Judge Carlos Bea justified his decision stating:
"Without knowing the history behind these words, one might well think the phrase 'one Nation under God' could not be anything but religious. History, however, shows these words have an even broader meaning, one grounded in philosophy and politics and reflecting many events of historical significance.”
Um, yeah. I call BULLSHIT.
Louis A. Bowman (1872-1959) was the first to initiate the addition of "under God" to the Pledge. 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, he led the Society in swearing the Pledge with two words added, "under God."
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.
In 1952, Holger Christian Langmack 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 America 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". At the suggestion of a correspondent, Representative Louis C. Rabaut of Michigan sponsored a resolution to add the words "under God" to the Pledge in 1953.
Huh. Seems like in all cases, "under God" was not founded on politics or philosophy, but religion. Well gee, imagine that!
The Pledge of Allegiance was originally composed in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. His original version was:
“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
Somewhere between 1892 and 1923, a "to" was added:
"I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."
Then in 1924, the original pledge was changed up a bit more:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."
By 1954, it had been changed a little more:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."
And in 1954, "under God" was added:
"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.
So, why the fear of removing "under God"? Why not take the Pledge back to its original form and teach our kids the history of the Pledge?
According to the article cited above, the judges explained their decision saying,
the "under God" portion of the Pledge is not a violation of the Constitution, but a historical reflection of the Founding Fathers’ beliefs that “serves to unite our vast nation.”
Again, I call BULLSHIT.
Okay, first, our founding fathers were not religious-right Christians. No, really. They were Deists.
Secondly, while I agree that a Pledge of Allegiance serves (to some extent) to unite our vast nation, blatantly disregarding the Constitution by inserting "under God" only unites those who choose to believe in a god.
And do not get me started on the "In God We Trust" motto emblazoned on our currency...
Showing posts with label separation of church and state. Show all posts
Showing posts with label separation of church and state. Show all posts
10.16.2008
Gotta Keep 'Em Sep-ar-ated
I just recieved this email:
Subject: This will make you re-think
A Trivia question in Sunday School:
How long is the beast allowed to have authority in Revelations?
Revelations Chapter 13 tells us it is 42 months, and you know what that is?
Almost a four-year term of a Presidency.
All I can say is "Lord, Have mercy on us!"
According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything. Do we recognize this description? ?
I refuse to take a chance on this unknown candidate who came out of nowhere.
From: Dr. John Tisdale:
Dear Friends, As I was listening to a news program last night, I watched in horror as Barack Obama made the statement with pride. . ."we are no longer a Christian nation; we are now a nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, . . ." As with so many other statements I've heard him (and his wife) make, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd hear something like that from a presidential candidate in this nation. To think our forefathers fought and died for the right for our nation to be a Christian nation and to have this man say with pride that we are no longer that. How far this nation has come from what our founding fathers intended it to be. I hope that each of you will do what I'm doing now--send your concerns, written simply and sincerely, to the Christians on your email list. With God's help, and He is still in control of this nation and all else, we can show this man and the world in November that we are, indeed, still a Christian nation! Please pray for our nation!
WTF!? People are amazing. Truly amazing in the bullshit they spew forth.
"an unknown candidate who came out of nowhere" Are you kidding me? How has he come out of nowhere? It's not like he just suddenly materialized out of thin air and decided one day, "I think I'll run for President of the United States of America". He was president of the Harvard Law Review, for christ's sake! He was a civil rights attorney and a community organizer. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. Out of nowhere, my ass!
And, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't our country founded on principles of freedom of religion? Our country was founded on humanist values and keeping religion OUT of government. Ya know, that whole separation of church and state thing that some people find so tedious. Shouldn't we be proud to live in a nation where Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists live and work together peacefully and aren't persecuted for their religious beliefs? Or are we striving to become like the Middle East with crazy religious factions killing each other everyday?
Our constitution makes no mention whatsoever of god. The Founding Fathers were not religious men, and they fought hard to erect, in Thomas Jefferson's words, "a wall of separation between church and state." In 1797 our government concluded a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, or Barbary," now known simply as the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 of the treaty contains these words:
As the Government of the United States...is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion--as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen--and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Obama respects and embraces the wisdom and spirit of our founding fathers.
All I can say is, have mercy on us if we ever DO become a Christian nation!
Subject: This will make you re-think
A Trivia question in Sunday School:
How long is the beast allowed to have authority in Revelations?
Revelations Chapter 13 tells us it is 42 months, and you know what that is?
Almost a four-year term of a Presidency.
All I can say is "Lord, Have mercy on us!"
According to The Book of Revelations the anti-Christ is: The anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40's, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, will destroy everything. Do we recognize this description? ?
I refuse to take a chance on this unknown candidate who came out of nowhere.
From: Dr. John Tisdale:
Dear Friends, As I was listening to a news program last night, I watched in horror as Barack Obama made the statement with pride. . ."we are no longer a Christian nation; we are now a nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, . . ." As with so many other statements I've heard him (and his wife) make, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd hear something like that from a presidential candidate in this nation. To think our forefathers fought and died for the right for our nation to be a Christian nation and to have this man say with pride that we are no longer that. How far this nation has come from what our founding fathers intended it to be. I hope that each of you will do what I'm doing now--send your concerns, written simply and sincerely, to the Christians on your email list. With God's help, and He is still in control of this nation and all else, we can show this man and the world in November that we are, indeed, still a Christian nation! Please pray for our nation!
WTF!? People are amazing. Truly amazing in the bullshit they spew forth.
"an unknown candidate who came out of nowhere" Are you kidding me? How has he come out of nowhere? It's not like he just suddenly materialized out of thin air and decided one day, "I think I'll run for President of the United States of America". He was president of the Harvard Law Review, for christ's sake! He was a civil rights attorney and a community organizer. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. Out of nowhere, my ass!
And, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't our country founded on principles of freedom of religion? Our country was founded on humanist values and keeping religion OUT of government. Ya know, that whole separation of church and state thing that some people find so tedious. Shouldn't we be proud to live in a nation where Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists live and work together peacefully and aren't persecuted for their religious beliefs? Or are we striving to become like the Middle East with crazy religious factions killing each other everyday?
Our constitution makes no mention whatsoever of god. The Founding Fathers were not religious men, and they fought hard to erect, in Thomas Jefferson's words, "a wall of separation between church and state." In 1797 our government concluded a "Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, or Barbary," now known simply as the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 of the treaty contains these words:
As the Government of the United States...is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion--as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musselmen--and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
Obama respects and embraces the wisdom and spirit of our founding fathers.
All I can say is, have mercy on us if we ever DO become a Christian nation!
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