July 18, 2002
Silly me, I though that this whole pledge of allegiance mess was behind us. Guess I should've known better.
The True Believers are still flogging their dead horse, trying to convince us all that the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional because... er...
Well, thery're still working on the "because" part. But they're right, goddamnit, and all of us anti-American commie pinko atheistic child-molesting Satanists had better toe the line. Or something.
Anyway, in a rare departure from pandering, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette printed a letter from both an atheist applauding the decision and a hyper-religious Christian who thinks the children's immortal souls will all be doomed to Hell if they aren't forced to ally themselves with the Almighty Superbeing™ every weekday morning, except for vacations.
Here are excerpts from two letters to the editor:
As if we don't have enough to worry about, some narrow-minded patriots want to take "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance.
I don't care what your religious beliefs are, they all profess to have a supreme being ....
"Under God" was inserted in the pledge in 1954 after the conflict in Korea, probably giving our servicemen and women a boost in their morale after a conflict that cost us thousands of American lives and injuries.
Now what do we want to do? We say, "Get out of our lives, God, we don't want you around any more." ...
The United States is the most lenient country in the world regarding tolerance of citizens' religious beliefs. I'm sure all that Michael Newdow, who brought the suit, or any other nonbeliever would have to do is send a handwritten note to his child's teachers stating that he did't [sic] want his child to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance and his wishes would be granted. Why take this right away from all our children?
If you want to know about God, ask any combat veteran. God is at his side when he wakes up in the morning. God follows him into combat and God accompanies his remains to his gravesite....
Let us all renew our faith in God, our country and our flag. God bless America!
I have to applaud the atheist who brought the issue of the Pledge of Allegiance and its reference to "under God" into the limelight. I, too, am an atheist, and while I was still in high school I would refuse to stand for the pledge.
Although students are not required to stand for the pledge, it goes without question that the majority do .... Some teachers do find it offensive not to stand for the pledge and will make quite a large deal out of a student who refuses to.
I never stood for the pledge not because I hated America, as students or teachers would say every once in a while, but because I am an atheist ....
Patriotism is a trend now, not an expression of love of your country. Perhaps the United States and its citizens should take a step back and maybe realize that what they have been doing is wrong ....
Now, you all know which side of the issue I'm on, so I'll skip that part. What I'm going to focus on is how the "true believers" behave towards atheists.
Re-read the first letter. Look at the arrogance of it -- my religious beliefs profess the existance of a supreme being? No they don't: My belief regarding religion is that there is no such thing as a God (or gods). Talk to a Hindu about God, and he's likely to ask you "which one?" Actually, he's more likely to decide that you're an ignorant American and pretend not to speak English. Only three religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- hold a belief in a single all-powerful God.
Well, the kids can elect not to say the Pledge, the believers say. Well, yes they can. But now look at the atheist's experience -- teachers making a big deal out of it, other students and teachers saying he hates America. In a word, ostracism. Or at least embarrassment. Because his belief system doesn't need a God propping it up. Is not saying the Pledge really an option for a kid who wants to fit in? I don't think so either.
Any veteran will know about God. God is with our warriors. Sounds a lot like what the enemy's saying isn't it? Of course, more people have died because of God than anything else in the history of mankind. Reminds me of a George Carlin routine: "'Do you believe in God?' 'No.' *BLAM* Dead. 'Do you believe in God?' 'Yes.' 'Do you believe in my God?' 'No.' *BLAM* Dead. 'My God has a bigger dick than your God!'"
I wish this debate had taken place 10 years ago, while I was in high school. It would have been nice to know how I would have reacted as a budding atheist -- would I have spoken up and said the Ninth Circuit Court was right? Would I have clammed up? Would I have opposed the court based on a mistaken interpretation of freedom of religion?
God is a hot topic -- in fact, Usenet calls highly-polarized debates "religious" due to the fact that they tend to be argued on emotion instead of logic. I don't think there are many people out there who can discuss the idea of God's (non)existance without taking it personally.
It's a shame, because if people could step back and take a look at the actual decision -- that "under God" is morally equivalent to "under Jesus Christ," "under Allah," "under Vishnu" or "under no God" -- they would see that the court is actually preserving the rights of people to believe in their own personalized interpretation of God, and where it truly belongs: The home or in a church/synagogue/mosque.
As a parting shot, the Senators all standing up to recite the Pledge reminds me of a parable from one of the books of the (Christian) Gospel. The story asked who was really more pious: Those who loudly proclaim their religion for all to hear or those who, confident in their beliefs, rightfully keep their religion between them and God. The parallels are astounding.
Update: Over on the Spinnwebe forums, Zompist posted the actual location in the Bible. It's Matthew 6:1-6.
