When I was in High School, once or twice a week I would get on the PA system and lead the school in the Pledge of Allegiance. Despite not being especially religious, I always said every word, under god, indivisible, and so on without giving it much thought. There's a case in front of the Supreme Court now about whether or not to cut the under god part out. This is very important to some people. I have trouble caring too much.
If the decision was mine, I'd take it out, if for no other reason than the fact that it was forcibly inserted into the pledge in the 1950's. I figure that if the pledge today did not contain the phrase "under god" and someone wanted to add it, that would seem silly. We have a lot of deistic traditions in this country, which I am ok with, but adding god to the public sphere, in say, an Alabama courthouse, is something that I couldn't get behind.
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OK, I don't have the energy to address all the issues (some think the pledge is the equivalent of state sponsered christianity, some think removing under god would be an affront to the vast majority of Americans who are "religous," etc.). I just wrote 5 separate paragraphs that I digitally crumpled up and threw in the recycle bin, so I'll just link a blog entry I especially liked:
Volokh. James is also
talking about this with typical thoughtfulness, and so on and so forth.
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I care very deeply about my own religion, but I must concur that the “under God” clause doesn’t need to be there. It was slipped in there in the 1950′s as you said. There are millions and millions of Americans who are either of no religion or the faiths they follow are non-monotheistic, so, intellectually, it makes no sense to have this line in a “national pledge.”
However, unfortunately, other religious people can’t feel good about their faith unless everyone else recognizes and validates their “truth,” so thus this simple and actually clear-cut issue gets caught up in the “culture wars,” and away we go!
Garris
Actually, I’ve always felt uncomfortable pledging allegiance to a piece of cloth. Despite what the old guys say, no one ever died for ‘that flag’. They died for the republic; for liberty, etc.
I’d ditch the whole thing.
Exactly! That has always been my main beef with the pledge. Make it a pledge to ‘My fellow citizens of the United States…’ or some such and I’m all for it.
I always felt bad for all those poor suckers who ‘fought for the flag’ there are so many more important and valid things to be fighting for.
I agree. I like the pledge to ‘My fellow citizens of the United States…’ much better.
Garris
Here’s a pretty good article from Slate. Were I a Congressman, I think I would introduce a resolution to roll back the 1950s…
This little flag of mine
Who was that butch, nearly bald woman who used to scream “Stop the insanity!!”? I can’t remember her name but I’d like to borrow her trademark line. America is at war, deeply in debt, saddled with a falling dollar and…