"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation with liberty and justice for all." I think "indivisible" is a larger omission, personally. Ed O.
Wasn't me FAMS! heard about it and saw it though. Can't believe they did that! Either show the whole thing, or none of it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk..... Cause I'm a balla'!
[video=youtube;Q2BfqDUPL1I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2BfqDUPL1I[/video] The pledge as it is is creepy. Also the pledge originally never had "one nation under god"... That was added by bible thumpers in the 50s along with "In God We Trust". Hey, let's sep-erate, that church from that state. Wee-yoo...
The Pledge was written by a utopian socialist in the 1890's and has had "under God" as a part of it (about 57 years) for almost as long as it did not (about 62 years). I don't know if looking to the original text is particularly helpful here. Ed O.
This Klinky guy is clueless in terms of the actual Constitution and how it applies to the made up concept of "separation of church and state".
Well I felt it was creepy from the get go. It looks like the pledge wasn't actively used during school ceremonies until about 12 years before they added the "under god" part. I don't really like the pledge regardless of if it had the "under god" part or not. School is for education not propaganda. Pledging blind allegiance goes counter to free thinking & independent thought. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", also the concept of separation of church & state has been used by the court system, including the Supreme Court. Forcing kids to recite a pledge that makes reference to the nation being under "Gods" power sounds a bit like an endorsement of a religion. It should not be taking place in public schools. If they want to make it open such as "one nation under God or maybe Allah, or maybe Ganesha or maybe spiritual force known as Karma or maybe a flying spaghetti monster or maybe nothing or maybe we haven't proven all the mysterys of the universe...etc..etc..etc..", then maybe it would be okay. But that would would probably ruffle a few feathers...
Few people have a clue about the purely socialist origin of The Pledge, nor the way it was recently perveted to support the blatantly anti-American Catholic Church. Of all the words in the English language, "god" is the very least appropriate word to be used when referring to a "Free Country". In fact, it's insulting. The Pledge of Allegiance A Short History by Dr. John W. Baer Copyright 1992 by Dr. John W. Baer Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897). Francis Bellamy in his sermons and lectures and Edward Bellamy in his novels and articles described in detail how the middle class could create a planned economy with political, social and economic equality for all. The government would run a peace time economy similar to our present military industrial complex. The Pledge was published in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, the leading family magazine and the Reader's Digest of its day. Its owner and editor, Daniel Ford, had hired Francis in 1891 as his assistant when Francis was pressured into leaving his baptist church in Boston because of his socialist sermons. As a member of his congregation, Ford had enjoyed Francis's sermons. Ford later founded the liberal and often controversial Ford Hall Forum, located in downtown Boston. In 1892 Francis Bellamy was also a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association. As its chairman, he prepared the program for the public schools' quadricentennial celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. He structured this public school program around a flag raising ceremony and a flag salute - his 'Pledge of Allegiance.' His original Pledge read as follows: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' He considered placing the word, 'equality,' in his Pledge, but knew that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans. [ * 'to' added in October, 1892. ] Dr. Mortimer Adler, American philosopher and last living founder of the Great Books program at Saint John's College, has analyzed these ideas in his book, The Six Great Ideas. He argues that the three great ideas of the American political tradition are 'equality, liberty and justice for all.' 'Justice' mediates between the often conflicting goals of 'liberty' and 'equality.' In 1923 and 1924 the National Flag Conference, under the 'leadership of the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, changed the Pledge's words, 'my Flag,' to 'the Flag of the United States of America.' Bellamy disliked this change, but his protest was ignored. In 1954, Congress after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, added the words, 'under God,' to the Pledge. The Pledge was now both a patriotic oath and a public prayer. Bellamy's granddaughter said he also would have resented this second change. He had been pressured into leaving his church in 1891 because of his socialist sermons. In his retirement in Florida, he stopped attending church because he disliked the racial bigotry he found there. What follows is Bellamy's own account of some of the thoughts that went through his mind in August, 1892, as he picked the words of his Pledge: It began as an intensive communing with salient points of our national history, from the Declaration of Independence onwards; with the makings of the Constitution...with the meaning of the Civil War; with the aspiration of the people... The true reason for allegiance to the Flag is the 'republic for which it stands.' ...And what does that vast thing, the Republic mean? It is the concise political word for the Nation - the One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove. To make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches. And its future? Just here arose the temptation of the historic slogan of the French Revolution which meant so much to Jefferson and his friends, 'Liberty, equality, fraternity.' No, that would be too fanciful, too many thousands of years off in realization. But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all... If the Pledge's historical pattern repeats, its words will be modified during this decade. Below are two possible changes. Some prolife advocates recite the following slightly revised Pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, born and unborn.' A few liberals recite a slightly revised version of Bellamy's original Pledge: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with equality, liberty and justice for all.' I read about this at the L.O. library when I was in the 2nd grade. Since that time, I've never uttered any Pledge but the unadultered original.
It wasn't recently perverted. Or recently enhanced. The change happened over a half of a century ago. Ed O.
The Pledge was written 119 years ago, so yeah, relatively recently historically speaking. Either way, it's message has been hijacked and made into self-mockery at the bequest of a specific religion, and is idiotic and unrepresentative of America in it's present form.
It was only recently written, historically speaking. I don't think that the majority of Americans would agree with you. Ed O.
I am not sure what the opinions of a large majority of Americans has on the vision of the man who created the pledge. His vision does not change because a large group of people think differently. If indeed this large group of people are using the pledge in a form that was not the intent of it's creator then they have indeed "hijacked it".
