The Pledge of Allegiance Review

"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 read an interesting spin about the Pledge of Allegiance the other day. Basically, there are some non-believers who believe that the phrase "under God" disenfranchises them, that the phrase was inserted during the McCarthy era (no, not the Paul McCartney era when he and the Beatles broke up).

According to the spin, the phrase was a diabolical scheme designed to alienate Communists and Atheists. I can see why non-believers might connect the dots in that way. After all, the Red Scare and the insertion of "under God" happened right about the same time Eisenhower said he had to go to the men's room.

But Ike didn't really have to pee; he and the KKK were holding a secret meeting that would turn the lives of those Commie-pinkos and no-account heathens up-side-down. "Hey, " Ike said, as he leaned against a urinal (faking, of course), "why not insert 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance? That aught to really mess with Khrushchev's head and those Commie-pinko bastards here in the U.S."

"Great idea, Ike," said the KKK head dragon-wizard dude (he was also leaning against a urinal and faking), "we're still upset about that asshole Lincoln freeing the slaves, but your idea should make up for it some."

Did it really happen that way? Well...gee...I don't know. However, I do know that the phrase "under God" was taken from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was anything but a bigot. As the KKK dude pointed out, that asshole Lincoln did in fact free the slaves. Had the KKK dude known the origin of "under God," I'm sure he would have stopped faking and his sheets would be yellow.

Further, the Pledge still contains the phrase "with liberty and justice for all." Man, what an oversight! They forgot to change it to "with liberty and justice for all excep' them no-good varmint Commie bastards and Atheists."

The last word "all" kinda ruins the spin, don't it? It kind of makes me question the validity of the assertion that we are a nation of bigots if we don't remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Here is my take: the Pledge of Allegiance is saying that we are a nation founded on moral and religious principals. We are a compassionate nation (with the exception of fringe groups like the KKK) that wants liberty and justice not for some, but for all.

When a black man declares publicly that he is "proud to be black," but wants "liberty and justice for all," you certainly would not label him a bigot. So it only follows that a nation that is proud of its religious heritage is not a nation of bigots when it publicly declares "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

On a personal note, I am a Taoist, not a Christian--and I take no offense when Christians publicly show their pride. After all, this nation was not created by Atheists or Taoists. This nation was founded and created by compassionate Christians who could have empowered themselves, but chose not to. They chose instead to grant everyone freedom of religious choice.

Heck, they even granted their worst critics the right not to be imprisoned for their beliefs or lack thereof. To label these fine and noble Christians, who fought and died to set the slaves free, bigots is a travesty.

I say let them quote Lincoln if they desire. It is the least I can do for them in exchange for all they have done for me and my faith. The only thing I object to is the use of police power to force their critics to say the words against their will. In my opinion, this is a violation of the First Amendment.

The thing I try to keep in mind when occasional abuses occur, is not that the abusers embraced Christianity and then became wild-eyed fanatics, but rather, they fell away from Christianity and the moral lessons it teaches. The mere fact they call themselves Christians does not make them so.

Jesus, last time I checked, advocated tolerance and compassion--not bigotry and prejudice. Therefore, "under God" is a symbol of tolerance and compassion.

In conclusion, I think the spin I read the other day is spaghetti that fails to stick to the wall, and I love spaghetti, too. What a waste.