Posted on 07/02/2002 9:04:58 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Have you ever had so many mixed emotions you didn't know which one to feel? The frightening thing is that it's necessary to feel them all, or we will shut down and not allow ourselves to feel anything. Apathy will strip us of our very soul.
I listened to a 15 year old girl tearfully tell how painful it was to hear the Pledge of Allegiance recited each day at school. She is an atheist and does not believe in G-d and to hear those words "under G-d" is very hurtful and makes her cry.
So, it was a great moment for her when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared the "Pledge" unconstitutional. She was greatly concerned that children are never asked their point of view. She said, "I'm the one that has to put up with this in school – I have to sit there and listen to people say those words when I don't believe them to be true."
I guess she would have become hysterical had she been in Washington, D.C. the next morning when virtually the entire Senate showed up for morning prayer, heads bowed behind their desks, to affirm that the United States is indeed one nation under G-d. On the same day, a nearly full House of Representatives gathered to recite the pledge, with some shouting "under G-d."
And then to add insult to injury, many joined hands and sang the first line of "G-d Bless America." She would have probably needed medical attention had she been exposed to this display of patriotism?
Michael Newdow, the father of a second-grader, filed the lawsuit in the 9th Circuit Court because he objects to his daughter being compelled to LISTEN to her classmates recite the pledge. He appeared on CNN singing a song he wrote called the Pledge of Allegiance Blues.
I would love to have serenaded him with one of Merle Haggard's favorites, "If you don't love it – leave it, cause if you're puttin' down my country, you're walkin' on the fightin' side of me."
This same father, who is a doctor and lawyer, filed an action one and a half years ago in a district court in the District of Columbia seeking to prevent the inauguration of George Bush as President of the United States if Bush planned to say "so help me G-d" at the end of the oath. Mr. Newdow sought to have the court review Bush's inaugural address before he gave it, to make sure there was no reference to G-d. The courts turned him down. So, this is truly a man on a mission.
If I could be a proponent of anything in our schools it would be to teach our children how this nation was founded. Or would we argue the authenticity of our history? Re-write the history books? Was there really a George Washington, a Thomas Jefferson and who are those "founding fathers"? Would we teach a more "Darwinian" approach to the birth of our nation? Or did it all just HAPPEN?
I am sitting in my office looking at a picture of George Washington on bended knee next to his horse in a snow-laden forest offering a prayer to his Lord before one of the mightiest battles ever fought for our freedom and I tend to believe this portrayal of him is true.
I don't know what the next few years will bring for us, but this one thing I do know to be true: THE DRAFT IS BACK, WE ARE ALL SOLDIERS NOW. We have not only been hit on our own soil by a foreign enemy, but we have an enemy in our midst that seeks to destroy.
I'm tired of being told that we need to be "all-inclusive", not too American, don't emphasize speaking English, don't fly another U.S. flag, stop praying and by all means become more tolerant.
Heck, why don't we just call ourselves the "People's Republic of Everyone" and then we won't offend anyone? How dare we act like Americans.
In Boulder, Colorado the public library decided it was too offensive to fly the American flag in front of the building so they moved it to the side. In Amherst, Massachusetts they wanted to vote on when and how many flags could fly on the city square because they were a nuisance. That initiative met a dead end the next day when four planes – three of which were successful – were used to crash into buildings. It seemed to change their whole thinking about that ubiquitous flag. Hmmm … strange how those same folks didn't mind those flags after all.
Well, you're either for us or you're against us … I'm talking to you Mr. Newdow. I can't imagine the kind of life that lies ahead for you and your daughter. You've struck a sensitive cord.
And to the rest of you flag waving Americans … fly your flags, pray your prayers, and speak your heart!
That fifteen year old and I both cry – but for different reasons. "Under G-d" doesn't bother me, it blesses me.
There's no apology from this ol' gal. When that American flag goes up and the Star Spangled Banner is played, I cry too. Am I proud? You betcha'! Do I want to tone these goose bumps down? Not on your life. I'm going to be flying my flag HIGH this 4th of July!
Bwwwaaaaaaah...sniff, sniff...
No, no, no, the animal activists would not like that one either. How can you say the Republic belongs just to people?
Seriously, though, she makes some excellent points here. I love her statement that we are all soldiers now. And I hope and pray that we all do our soldierly duty in fighting this war against our heritage.
---Dirty Harry Callahan
America, love it or leave it.
Sounds to me like this stupid little moron has more problems than just listening to the pledge.
Our people awoke from their slumber for a brief moment on September the 11th, 2001. However, the masses were too quickly back asleep, believing in big government as our saviour.
I love our country. There is nowhere that has the hope that America has. However, it is up to the masses to insist on a return to our foundations, both legal and spiritual. Without a determined chorus from the grass-roots, Washington will run amok. This is my fear: that for the hope of safety, We surrender liberty. Too much has already been taken over the past 90 years. We can spare no more.
This author is confusing patriotism with his religion. These
wannabe ayatollahs 'don't impress me much.'
This is all a farce, anyway, since the pledge is not a serious oath. The one I took to defend the constitution is deadly serious. If it has the word "God" in it I don't care, me being agnostic and all. Maybe it would upset a 15 year old girl, but then what doesn't?
Yes. You can usually recognize them by
their jingoism, braying, and how angry they
get when you mention it.
Does that include unrepentant Confederates?
But they are almost always carried in the same hearts and are regarded by their proponents as being inseparable. Who says "A" nearly always says "B."
Pray do help in our confusion as to patriotism and nationalism.
Being a "My country right or wrong" kind of person, I'd like to learn how to pick and choose what I will or will not support.
If right and wrong are irrelevant to you then I'm not sure why you would even bother to go through to motions of pretending to pick and choose.
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