[Dan Richardson]

The one thing that really gets me about these debates is people’s denial of faith. Alright so you don’t believe in God/gods/Allah/Jehovah/Jesus/Buddha/Mohammed/Shiva/Flying Spaghetti Monster, but you put your faith somewhere. “I base my beliefs around facts, logic and scientific reasoning,” I hear this all the time, being a Christian in college you hear all the arguments from professors, roommates, students, even the crazy guys who yells on the free speech lawn and tells you your going to hell because you listen to Rock and Roll or because you wear baggy pants. Whether you believe in life from non life or a Divine Creator, Common Ancestry or Common Design, you’ve established your faith somewhere. Whether God is your God, or science is your God you’ve established a belief system that you serve. Unless, you’re a Nihilist, in which case you believe in nothing, so I guess the phrase should be more fairly put “One State/Nation under God or Nothing.” But wait, if you’re a Nihilist why are you complaining about fair? You believe in nothing, I mean common, who is the Nihilist here?

My point? No matter how trivial it is, denial of faith is silly, of course I know agnostics and atheists don’t believe in an “Apparition that is like floating around in the cosmos man,” (Quote from my freshman year roommates) but you’ve established a belief in say the Big Bang theory and perhaps Matter being the end all be all and this is your God. Or perhaps you believe in a survival of the fittest mentality in which you are your own god (I’ve met dozens of people who claim this) and what better than you to say “One State/Nation under Me.”

What Ramifications does this have? Well none really other than the fact that this tidbit of knowledge helps me to say the pledge with the knowledge that I can’t really offend anyone. In fact, my biggest worry about saying the pledge is the original socialistic trends, right hand over heart left hand outstretched, and the original pledge leaving out key words because Woman and Blacks rights were still controversial. The recitation of the pledge should not be and is not necessary according to a 1943 Ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette apparently according to Wiki ‘“Compulsory Unification of Opinion” violates the First Amendment. Tell your teacher this and they’ll probably give you extra credit for knowing what compulsory means. Add in that this was oddly enough brought to court by Jehovah’s Witnesses because they believe recitation to be idolatry and you may just get a cookie as well.

Of course a significant number of the founding fathers were religious; we all know the puritans came on the Mayflower to avoid religious persecution from the state establish Church of England, which oddly enough had annexed itself from papal authority not long before because the King wanted to get divorced. But we also know that Jamestown settlers were as rough and tough as they come, and skimming over the diaries of those Men/Women will leave chills. This country has a dynamic history which is heavily influenced by religion, and the fact is we still are. According to a 2001 Self-Described Religious Identification of U.S. Adults 85% of Americans claim to believe in some god little g but of those 83.1% believe in the big G God. So claiming, as some have that Atheism/Agnostics is the new national trend, you’d be hard pressed to prove that true.

I know this post is getting rather lengthy and I haven’t really touched as much as I should upon the main issue so I’ll conclude by saying this. In a nation of which 85% of the people still believe strongly in a god it is hard to get a word in edgewise. Sitting back and evaluating the situation; supporting legislation of the mandatory recitation of a 20 second pledge that includes the 85% unifying words “Under God” is not something I’d likely lobby for, not out of religious beliefs but more out of a Libertarianesque political view. So this stance is mute in a religious sense because it has little to do with “Under God” being religious persecution and more to do with the forced “Compulsory Unification of Opinion” type of persecution. National pride is important I have it and recite the pledge happily when asked, but being forced to recite anything against your will is in direct violation of your rights and intolerable. Through it all I know that I stand Under God at all times and that is what is important to me.







P.S. Bill, bringing up abortion in this argument is misplaced because though Pro-Life is a stance that many God Fearing people take, it is not exclusive to them. Many Agnostic/Atheistic Doctors and Psychologists are against abortion because of long lasting physical and psychological ramifications that result in the mothers due to these procedures. Also it’s not a debate about the morality of abortion or personal rights, it’s a debate based on whether life begins at conception or at birth. If you believe at conception, then you believe pro life, if you believe life begins at birth, then you believe pro choice.