One Nation Indivisible
Hey kids! Try saying this and tell me how it feels to you.
Did ya get to taste your bile like I still do when hearing the anti-commie code word, God, inserted where it has no historically accurate reason nor Constitutional right to be?
I know a few atheist boys and girls who don't like that taste any better than anyone else does. I also know a couple more for whom it ain't no thang. Why should it bother them, when the concept of God is redundant of the idea that there are more Gods than one.
One nation under the Gods . . .
Uhm erruhm... Well, alrighty then.
OK. So the atheist friends who feel a slight tickle, or just plain bored over their atheism hold the same attitude towards the whole shebang as I aim for. It really took this past 5 years of God Politics, from the Right and the Left, to get me all fired up enough to blog and write about it though.
So on that note, the Browns won in overtime, w00T WOOF! WOOF!
A tip o' the hat to Carol of Atheists-World, and a Happy Sunday to all y'all.
***
Update 12/07/06: The Christian Science Monitor has a fairly interesting story on how folks across the nation have been losing interest in the "Pledge".
As I mentioned in a comment, the PoA itself I can certainly do without, especially in its current, unconstitutional incarnation. The problem I do have is that folks in general have also lost, if a majority has ever had, a true and personal understanding of their Civic responsibilities in our Democratic Republic.
When we think a 51% voter turnout is a good thing, there has got to be a problem which needs resolving.
IMO, at any rate.
Enjoy.
Did ya get to taste your bile like I still do when hearing the anti-commie code word, God, inserted where it has no historically accurate reason nor Constitutional right to be?
I know a few atheist boys and girls who don't like that taste any better than anyone else does. I also know a couple more for whom it ain't no thang. Why should it bother them, when the concept of God is redundant of the idea that there are more Gods than one.
One nation under the Gods . . .
Uhm erruhm... Well, alrighty then.
OK. So the atheist friends who feel a slight tickle, or just plain bored over their atheism hold the same attitude towards the whole shebang as I aim for. It really took this past 5 years of God Politics, from the Right and the Left, to get me all fired up enough to blog and write about it though.
So on that note, the Browns won in overtime, w00T WOOF! WOOF!
A tip o' the hat to Carol of Atheists-World, and a Happy Sunday to all y'all.
***
Update 12/07/06: The Christian Science Monitor has a fairly interesting story on how folks across the nation have been losing interest in the "Pledge".
As I mentioned in a comment, the PoA itself I can certainly do without, especially in its current, unconstitutional incarnation. The problem I do have is that folks in general have also lost, if a majority has ever had, a true and personal understanding of their Civic responsibilities in our Democratic Republic.
When we think a 51% voter turnout is a good thing, there has got to be a problem which needs resolving.
IMO, at any rate.
Enjoy.
Backstory: Is America pledging less?
I was thinking about being UNDER God, man that has to squish a body. Well done for the Browns. I love it when a game goes into overtime and it's down to the last second.
ReplyDeleteYou should do as the Egyptians and Japanese used to and declare the emperor God. Then there can be no objections.
ReplyDeleteCan one impeach God?
People who have multiple gods seems to be generally much more tolerant of other people's different gods, or lack thereof. (my pagan friends just shrug at my non-belief, it's not an issue, besides, I love the earth and so do they, so in a way we share that god, if a god is simply a thing you love)
ReplyDeleteThe problem comes in when there is one true god... and another one true god over there, and both are jealous and demanding for all the others to go away... and their followers killed.
With polytheism, there's choice.
As for the pledge, I think it's interesting that "indivisible" is kind of the opposite sentiment of "under god" in that monotheism is possibly the biggest divider the world ever saw! I guess wealth (class) is another contender for that title.
This one is kind of sticky. Frankly, to me it's like being Jewish -- do I really care at the end of the day whether people say Happy Holiday or Merry Christmas to me? I'm such a small part of the larger Christian US that I don't care that much. I save of my care for the important stuff. I feel like the pledge is a smaller issue for me. I know others may disagree, I just personally feel this way.
ReplyDeleteSo - I wonder, if we asked God. . .
ReplyDelete. . . would she really care?
One Nation With Liberty And Justice For All...isn't even true...never has been...never will...and God certaily doesn't have anything to do with it. I don't think there needs to be a pledge at all. Does that win me the Pinko Award of the day?
ReplyDeleteY'all Rock!
ReplyDeleteThanks for chipping in as this really does seem to be "one of those topics, on which almost everyone has a strong opinion; even if it's an I Don't Care.
{-;
Here's my reaction. Let each say hat hey want to say, those who want to have the word God, fine, those who do not, don't say it.
ReplyDeleteAlso want to add a political message (hope that's OK!)
Join thousands across the country in a National Call in Day to hold Congress accountable to the Mandate for Peace: Tel. 202-224-3121 Congressional Switchboard
Call your Representative and Senators and tell them: "The voters issued a Mandate for Peace! That means, bring the troops home now!"
Hell, why even have a pledge? Why even do it? Does anyone really think about the words as they say them?
ReplyDeleteThe Cowboys beat the Giants yesterday so that ended the weekend just right :)
No pledge please. Always felt creepy as kid saying it in school.
ReplyDeleteone nation under Thor....
ReplyDeleteAlright, Mariamaria! You're sayin' it's Hammer Time, are ya? {-;
That fits perfectly with Glenda's message (which website, I believe, refers to last year, but is equally relevant for this month.) Me likey!
As far as teh "No Pledge" contingent: There is definitely a part of me which holds the same feelings. I've no truck with "allegiance oaths", regardless of their phrasing.
What I do think the PoA does for our kids is to give them a sense of Civic Awareness; of their place in a Society of Laws.
Granted, most of my own educators failed to grasp the relevance and importance of this concept themselves, so there really was little chance for them to pass it on to the wee little sheople for whom they were responsible. But that was at Catholic School, and I can only conjecture and use others' anecdotes as to how effectively these extraordinary concepts of E pluribus unum and Rule of Law are taught across the spectrum of regional Public School systems in the U.S.
Seems to me there might be something better, more appropriate and apropos of Civ Ed, than "I pledge Allegiance..." Regardless of "under God" or Not.
It just seems odd to me that we should have to pledge allegiance to anything in this day and age. Does anyone else find this odd that our children are still taught recite this daily in school? What does it all really mean?
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's any need for a Pledge of Allegience, it IS kindof creepy, or seems so since I grew up. Funny, when I was a kid we were Jehovah's Witnesses for quite a few years and I was not allowed to take part in the pledge because it is considered putting up false gods (the country and the flag are not supposed to get "allegience"). I'd either just stand there and say/do nothing or be asked to stand out in the hall. So no matter what issue is at hand, the PoA is a weird topic for me.
ReplyDeleteBlueberry...me too! I didn't say the pledge either...I'm still alive and haven't been struck with lightening. Go figure. The Witness thing is sooo behind me.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for scrapping the Pledge. Despite its origins it's become a tool of the right and a litmus test of "patriotism" as narrowly defined by the same right-wing jerks.
ReplyDeleteAt the least, we should "restore" the Pledge by taking out the stupid phrase, "under God." Wasn't meant to be there.
I gotta say, that whole pledge thing is one big reason I don't think I could ever be a US citizen. The whole idea of swearing allegiance like that freaks me out. But then maybe that is because I am inclined to take such promises seriously.
ReplyDelete