My Response to The "Under God" Crowd [View All]

[Steely_Dan]

I received this "mass" email from my sister. My response follows.

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To All On This List: I received this email on Saturday, March 12, 2005:

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!

I was asked to send this on if I agree, or delete if I don't.  What would you like to do?

It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God.  Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a mess about having "In God We Trust" on our money and having God in the Pledge of Allegiance.  Why don't we just tell the 14% to Sit Down and BE QUIET!!!

If you agree, pass this on; if not simply delete. .

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My Response:

I want to thank those who have forwarded this to me. Our great country is indeed unique and stands as a monument to freedom and individuality.

It is not my intention to force my views onto others. However, since I did not ask for this email and it came to me unsolicited, I feel that I have the right to respond in kind.

First off, contrary to popular belief, the Constitution was not written to protect the majority. It was written to protect that lone voice of descent. That is in fact, what America is all about...that we can tolerate opinions and positions that don't agree with our own. In a country that is founded on freedom, it is essential that we respect even those that we may strongly disagree with.

With that said, I am not writing this to offend anyone. Even with my strongly stated position that "god" should not be in any way shape or form, a part of our government, I still respect those that hold an opposing position.

I’m guessing that a few of you on this list may believe that The Pledge of Allegiance has been recited since the time of our founding fathers. Of course, this is not true. You may be surprised to learn that it was a Francis Bellamy. a Baptist minister, who wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist.

At the time, Mr. Bellamy pledge did NOT include the words “under God.” That was added some sixty years later in 1954 when Congress was swayed by a vigorous campaign to add the words “under God” by the Knights of Columbus. It was also added as a means to counter the “godless” Soviets during the Cold War.

It’s sort of strange to consider that the words “under God” were added to the Pledge during my lifetime…I was two years old.

Also, contrary to popular belief, our country was NOT founded by Judeo-Christian patriots. Many of the founding fathers were atheist or at least agnostic. The truth is, the first to arrive in our country were those trying to “escape” religious dogma. They did not like the idea of having to worship a single idea of God. For them, it was a matter of “freedom” from a prescribed religion. And, I might add,
they risked their lives traveling across the ocean for this right not to have to worship as the King saw fit.

For me, the idea of America is that we are “free” to worship or not worship as we see fit. Because we are free “not to believe” in a specific deity (in this case, a born-again Christian God), doesn’t it follow that our government should not promote or practice any specific religious belief?

I become uneasy when I think of our government turning into a theocracy. The last time we mixed religion and government, we were burning people at the stake (Salem Witch Trials).

We live in a wonderful country where the diversity of thought is supposedly respected and tolerated. But from what I have seen lately, our country has not been this divided since the Viet Nam War. People’s tolerance of each other’s beliefs are slowly eroding. One particular view of Christianity currently dominates our government and anyone who does not toe the line and “pledge allegiance” is not only unpatriotic but a heretic at best…and at worst, someone that someday may need to be eliminated. Yes, it is frightening to live in a country where we need to watch what we say for fear of retaliation. If you think I exaggerate, I assure you, could spend hours giving you examples of how “those who are different” are treated in our country…and how others are silenced.

No, the Pledge of Allegiance is not a sacred cow that only patriotic men and women should recite endlessly until it looses all meaning…it stands hand in hand with fear.

I will repeat…it is not my intention to offend anyone on this list. I am only expressing my opinion, which the last time I checked was still legal (in most states).

I will add one more point that I think needs repeating. I have been called unpatriotic more than once because of my views. Nothing upsets me more than when this happens. You see, I served my country as a young officer. I “defended” the rights of all Americans…not just the Christian Right. I fought for the rights of others... even those that I may not agree with.

You see, I consider myself more patriotic than those who wrap themselves in the flag and spew empty patriotic rhetoric. The essence of America is that we can disagree with our government and NOT suffer retaliation. I disagree with my government’s actions…I am the essence of what America is about.

So when you tell me to “SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET” ask yourself who is being unpatriotic and un-American.


-Paige