“Under God,” you say…

 

I posted an OP yesterday about the slippery slope of when believed “innocent indoctrination” can transition over into a possibly “faulty lifetime belief.”  Our Just_Drew gave some interesting feedback, citing the “Under God” portion of The Pledge.  Thanks Drew.  Much appreciated, and I’m going to turn it into an OP for today.

Whether or not to remove that phrase, “under God,” arguments were presented from both YES and NO stances.  That’s only fair.  You can review them here. 

The NO side brings up an argument that I take issue with.  Let’s debate it here too:

    "But others should also have the right to

    say those words if they choose to do so."

Which, for me, begs the question, is there only one Pledge or not?  Me being a stickler for details, if something so important as a pledge can be tweaked to one’s liking, can we call it The Pledge?  Or should it be called A pledge?  Or does it matter to you?

There’s a lot of that these days; variations on an idea/theme.  And I usually skew liberal on that.  “You do your thing, and I do mine.”  One can take a pledge, but if they want it to be “official,” like in the military, or in the courts, seems to me that a common “standard” creed is required.  Picking parts and ideas that one goes along with is to diminished The Pledge’s value.

In my opinion, there really is no special need to include a religious reference in The Pledge being offered to a flag/nation.  I mean, what real good does it do?  Those who want to keep God in The Pledge may do it to demonstrate a more earnest devotion in their claim.  But are we not worthy enough to offer our commitment, our personal pledge, on our own recognizance.  Either we mean it or we don’t.  Why drag their God idea into the bigger picture?  Those who think it should be necessary, well, that’s between them and their God, not the rest of us. And according to their omniscient God, “He’s” gonna know if they really mean it or not.  Do they do it just for everyone else’s benefit, or their God’s?  We’re (us nay-sayers) are not asking for it.  Are they saying their reference makes it more worthy than ours?

So, I am with the “YES, officially remove the God reference” crowd.

How about you?

Is verbally leaving "under God" out of The Pledge okay with you?  Or is it no longer The Pledge of Allegiance but just a pledge of allegiance?  Make your argument.

(by PrimalSoup)


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