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| 6-28-02 "Under God" - What's the Big Deal?? Ok, it's 5:30 AM and I haven't been to sleep. I'm tired, so this will be all screwy, I'm sure. I need a new rant to put on my site, and I figured I might as well do it on the Pledge thing. If you notice a strange sentence like this: The dog was walking down the street when the%a elephants in Africa have large . . . just ignore it. I get sleepy and start deleting things and then I start typing again. See, I'm going on a tangent. Another characteristic of "Sleepy Shirde". With the recent decision that the current wording of the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—of Americans have been crying fowl. “What’s the big deal?” I’ve been hearing, “If you don’t want to say it then don’t,” is another popular thing to say. The big deal is this: it is unconstitutional to have the pledge recited in a public school if it recognizes the existence of a god. Every American is entitled to the right to express his or her patriotism. The Pledge of Allegiance is one such way. Why is it unconstitutional? If a public school is going to use the Pledge as it is currently worded, it is establishing monotheism, and at the very least deism. The United States is home to many who are not monotheists, who are not deists, and who are not theists at all. The First Amendment prohibits the establishment of religion or prohibition of the exercise thereof. If the government is going to recognize the belief in one god, monotheism, over the belief in more than one, polytheism, our government is elevating monotheism over polytheism. Not to mention shoving non-theists out the door, totally stripped of their rights promised in the First Amendment. “No one is forcing you to say the pledge, don’t say it,” is a something I’ve been reading a lot on the Internet. There is a problem with this way of thinking. Essentially, those who are being violated by this brazen act against the rights provided by the Constitution are telling other Americans to either show patriotism in a way that they want, or don’t express patriotism by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. This isn’t what our country is about. It is this type of thinking that the First Amendment was created to protect us from. How would a Christian feel if he or she were told that in order to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, he or she must say, “One nation, that recognizes no gods exist . . .”? I have a feeling the Christian community wouldn’t respond well. This is what atheists and other non-theists are being forced to do each time they choose to express patriotism by saying the Pledge. Among other things, what kind of message is this sending our children? Do we want our kids to grow up thinking it is OK to trample the law of the land because no one cares about the minority that it protects? Do we really want to teach our kids to judge others who believe differently than we do? This is the message we are teaching them. Having a secular pledge in no way hinders or violates the religious practices of anyone. Having a religious pledge does, it violates those who have no belief in gods, be they young or old—it is a violation. Going back to the original secular Pledge of Allegiance isn’t a daunting task. Why are the believing Americans so afraid? Is their faith so weak that removing two words from a pledge (that they should’ve never been placed in) will cause their belief in God will corrode? Let me share my own personal experience with the pledge in school. I was one of the few who refused to say it if it was going to force me to recognize that not only a creator exists, but that it there is only one. Here’s how it was for me: when told why I didn’t stand for the pledge, I was informed quite often by other students that I’m going to hell. Teachers were fond of telling me that I’m setting a bad example for other students. I was told by a friend that I was used as an example of what happens to a teen who isn’t raised properly. Other students were sure to remind me that I wasn’t patriotic. The principle of my school gave me two choice. I had the option of standing and saying a pledge that caused me to recognize a mythical entity as being real. Or, because he knew he couldn’t force me to say the Pledge, he told me to stand outside the school until the Pledge had been finished. That’s right, I was told to leave the building. They didn’t even want me in the place. This was in Winfield, West Virginia. The winters were quite cold. So, does it cause a problem when a student sits down while the Pledge is being said? Yes. Hell yes. I couldn’t express patriotism by saying the Pledge, and students and teachers alike ostracized me. |