In the US, gov't is restricted from establishing a religion. The pledge is not inferring that you have to believe in God nor is it a law saying that one must believe in a higher being. Whether you accept it or not, this country's entire foundation is a religious one. Pilgrims came here to be able to practice their religion. All of our laws stem from the ten commandments, which are God's law. All of the nation's historical documents written by our forefathers contain phrases that refer to a higher being. The congress has a tradition of praying before a session, we pray before sporting events, the tradition when people take oaths of office or oaths in court of law is for them to put their hand on a Bible. All these traditions stemmed from our forefathers who laid out a foundation of religious principles which would develop into our civil law. So, like it or not, this is "one nation under God" b/c of our traditions and the pledge states that historical fact.
this under god part has only been in the pledge for 50 years. i guess our tradition was not very strong until then. ridiculous. you think people cant figure out not to kill or steal until a magic book tells em so? or that nobody thought of those rules before they read them, they just killed each other? freedom to practice whatever they want, independent of the government.
you are right, i dont care that much, i am discussing for the sake of argument. however... but that *is* teaching religion. teaching that god exists, when i want zero religious thoughts put in my kids head. why should my kid be indoctrinated by school reciting this pledge to a nation "under god", when that is a religious statement that i as a parent i don't agree with.
Yeah, and why are schools putting thoughts about capitalism & democracy and why they are so superior to any other forms of economics & government in my kid's head as well? Why should my kid be indoctrinated into this smelly economic cesspool that is a democratic capitalistic society? I'm a socialist trapped in a capitalist society that is discriminating against my distaste/dislike/disbelief in the bourgeoisie swine that IS this country... The people WILL REVOLT against these teachings as they are not free will - they are UN-AMERICAN! POWER TO THE CORRECT PEOPLE!
Martin, read my post. Even though the phrase was put in just 50 years ago, it still is just a representation of fact of all the traditions i mentioned earlier. Learn your history. The founding fathers did use the ten commandments as a basis for American Law. The pledge is just a statement of fact about our society, whether you like it or not.
you just dont know what you are talking about. the ten commandments are the most obvious things in the universe and even the most anti-religious god denying people will still agree that you shalt not kill or steal. your idea that religion has a monopoly on morality is ludicrous. poli sci 101 teaches that some laws must exist, or society descends into chaos. these ideas exist independent of your commandments.
Ok here are the 10 Commandments 1-4 are all based on religion and such so they aren't US laws. 5 is a duty / moral decree, nope not a law 7 Same thing, duty /moral decree, not a law either 10 Adultery immoral, but not a crime So you're left with 6,8, and 9. All of which are the basis of EVERY society in recorded history. These laws are older than God and monotheism. Hammurabi's code, which included all three of these was written in 1700 BC. Which is significantly older than any form of Jewish law.
The currency of this nation has "In God We Trust" imprinted on it. Can I take this to mean that you don't want your kid to grow up to make a buck? And if it offends you so much, can I have YOUR money? It sure as hell doesn't offend me. :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:
