(11/10/04)
If you are a Christian and you have a child in the primary or secondary school system, in a public school in the United States, you should do your part and serve your God by suing the school district. The Pledge of Allegiance is totally incompatible with your religion.
The right-wing Christian should look at the text of the pledge and instantly see two things wrong with it. The pledging of allegiance to a mere flag reeks of idolatry. The unnecessary addition of the "under God" phrase in 1954 adds the use of the Lord's name in vain, a clear violation of Biblical law.
Great Christians served under oppressive governments; Christianity does not need government support to survive. A Christian's loyalty should lie first with God, then country. This is why I don't understand why Christians insist on government support of their religion. I think the Church would be a far better position if it were actively persecuted. You could wear the persecution as a mark of pride.
If the Newdow case hadn't been thrown out on a technicality, the Supreme Court would have had a mess on its hands. The only possible defense for the 1954 law codifying "under God" into the pledge would be that the mention of "God" is merely ceremonial, and devoid of meaning. It's a plausible defense, if you ask me. But then to defend its use, one would have to acknowledge that it's a meaningless application of the word "God," which seems to be use of the Lord's name in vain. You can't have it both ways. Either amend the Constitution, throw out the unnecessary phrase "under God," or continue to coerce children throughout the country to break the 3rd Commandment on a daily basis.
Look. Stop being retarded. Don't make kids pledge allegiance. Freedom of expression is a huge part of what our country is about. Teach your children to love their country in more effective ways. Teach them that we are the oldest modern republic. Teach them that the United States defeated fascism and tyranny throughout its history. Teach them that we save France's ass on a regular basis. Teach them that our countrymen invented great things like the light bulb, phonograph, teflon, and the cotton gin. Teach them that we took European inventions and actually made commercial products out of them (automobiles, radar, jet engines). Teach them the great things that Americans have done throughout history. There's enough to be proud of without having to resort to a gimmicky pledge of allegiance to a piece of fabric blowing in the wind (and the republic for which it stands). Don't spend our tax dollars on statues of Moses and the 10 Commandments. In fact, stop spending government money on stupid statues anyway. What do statues do for people anyway? I see them all over campus and all they do is turn into greenish blue copper ion crust. Who cares? Use that money on computer labs for the kids.
