Pledge of Allegiance ruled unconstitutional

by Dogpatch 13 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  seedy3

  Actually, I found the idea that the words "Under God" should never have been in the Pledge to begin with, especially in a nation that said they seperated Church from State. I have really for years never figured why they were in there at all. That is, that the US is suppose to be a country of Religious freedoms (although not always been that way), so the idea that Athesits, agnostics and pagans are getting the Almighty YHWH shoved down their throuts has always turned my stomach.

  OH and yes, plmkrzy, it was not the entire pledge, just the words "under God".

  I guess just my 2 cents worth.

  Seedy
• 

  freeman

  This is a pretty interesting turn of events.

  I wonder how many people are aware of the JW connection in all of this? Ill bet most folks dont realize that the so-called offending phrase One nation under God was added to the original words of the pledge as a concession to the JWs by a former US president. This president was raised in the truth.

  Inserting under God to the pledge apparently was meant to overcome the objection of some witnesses to saying the pledge since now the act of worship (if thats what you believe it is) would be directed to God and not the state.

  This apparently did not work as the witnesses still objected to reciting the pledge in any form, (even with the additional wording), and in fact they won a Supreme Court decision effectively excusing witness children, (and anyone else that objected) from the obligation of the pledge altogether.

  I wonder, if this decision stands, will we then be obliged to remove in God we trust from all our currency? Will the oaths taken for various positions in government have to be re-written to remove such offending phrases as so help me God? Will displays of the Ten Commandments now have to be removed form all court houses? And finally will sessions of congress be obliged to discontinue opening with prayer as they do now?

  Left to stand, this ruling could have quite an impact, dont you think?

  Personally I think it will be struck down, as the majority of US citizens are religious at some level. Further, the very heritage of this nation and the constitution itself was founded on religious principles. So my personal opinion is that this ruling doesnt have a prayer once it reaches the US Supreme Court (pun intended). Just my incoherent ramblings.

  Freeman
• 

  Xander

  the guys I know there aren't too happy over this

  Don't quite understand why? I mean, the addition of 'under god' was recent - 1954 - added as a concession to religious groups that the Federal government should not be in the habit of making.

  Jerry Falwell's and Pat Robertson's heads are surely spinning a la the Excorcist right about now

  LOL! Thanks for the image. Well, folks, if nothing else, THIS ALONE should serve as good enough motivation to keep it out!

  Further, the very heritage of this nation and the constitution itself was founded on religious principles

  BZZZT! Sorry, wrong answer.

  . Many protesters decry these decisions on the grounds that they conflict with the wishes and intents of the "founding fathers."

  Such a view of American history is completely contrary to known facts. The primary leaders of the so-called founding fathers of our nation were not Bible-believing Christians; they were deists.

  ....

  Fundamentalist Christians are currently working overtime to convince the American public that the founding fathers intended to establish this country on "biblical principles," but history simply does not support their view. The men mentioned above and others who were instrumental in the founding of our nation were in no sense Bible-believing Christians. Thomas Jefferson, in fact, was fiercely anti-cleric

  ....

  Jefferson was just as suspicious of the traditional belief that the Bible is "the inspired word of God." He rewrote the story of Jesus as told in the New Testament and compiled his own gospel version known as The Jefferson Bible, which eliminated all miracles attributed to Jesus and ended with his burial. The Jeffersonian gospel account contained no resurrection, a twist to the life of Jesus that was considered scandalous to Christians but perfectly sensible to Jefferson's Deistic mind.

  ....

  Jefferson didn't just reject the Christian belief that the Bible was "the inspired word of God"; he rejected the Christian system too. In Notes on the State of Virginia, he said of this religion, "There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites" (quoted by newspaper columnist William Edelen, "Politics and Religious Illiteracy," Truth Seeker, Vol. 121, No. 3, p. 33).

  Lots more here:

  http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/myth.html

  And some good quotes here:

  http://paganinfo.50g.com./quotes.htm

  "My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them."
  --Abraham Lincoln, to Judge J.S. Wakefield, after Willie Lincoln's death

  "The Christian system of religion is an outrage on common sense."
  -- Thomas Paine

  "The United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation."
  -- Treaty of Tripoli (1797) signed by John Adams (the original language is by Joel Barlow, U.S. Consul.)

  "The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."
  -- Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard's Almanack, 1758
• 

  Oroborus21

  Freeman,

  You are completely wrong!

  The JWs had nothing to do with the adding of the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

  It is true that President Eisenhower had some exposure to JWs.

  As to the 1954 Act that added the words, the issue was championed by the Catholic group, the Knights of Columbus.

  The historical record shows that the Senate and House supported the act because this was time of fear against the supposed growing menace of (atheistic) communism.

  As for someone else's question about the inscription "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, the Ninth Circuit Court addressed that issue in Aronow v. United States, 432 F.2d 242 (9th Cir. 1970) holding that it was not unconstitutional because it did not call for active coercion or endorsement on the part of the objectors.

  --Eduardo