So, what do you think?
Suicidal Librarians
15-07-2004, 00:01
Should "under God" stay in the pledge?
nope
I'm a god-believer and everything. However, I do not think that we should be hypocrites (more so than we already are) and make children (some who may be atheists or do not understand God yet) say "under God..." in the pledge. It's totally against the seperation of church and state.
And I mean, c'mon. After 228 years or so of not living up to the First Amendment, 2004 would be a good year to start, no? Better late than never.
We can, however, say "Under Canada, our useless hat..."
what about tradition though? Sure we may be hypocritical, but at least we try.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall hearing that "under God" wasn't even a part of the original pledge. I think it was added inder Eisenhower.
Roach-Busters
15-07-2004, 01:53
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall hearing that "under God" wasn't even a part of the original pledge. I think it was added inder Eisenhower.
You are correct. It was added during the Eisenhower Administration, sometime in the mid-50's (I don't remember the exact year).
Suicidal Librarians
15-07-2004, 02:04
nope
I'm a god-believer and everything. However, I do not think that we should be hypocrites (more so than we already are) and make children (some who may be atheists or do not understand God yet) say "under God..." in the pledge. It's totally against the seperation of church and state.
And I mean, c'mon. After 228 years or so of not living up to the First Amendment, 2004 would be a good year to start, no? Better late than never.
We can, however, say "Under Canada, our useless hat..."
Yeah, "under Canada" could work. Anyway, I'm pretty torn because I do believe in God and tradition, but then again it could be offensive to people who are athiests or don't believe in the same God. Although, I knew a Buddhist girl who had no problem with saying "under god".
Nothern Homerica
15-07-2004, 03:01
It was added in the 50's because of McCarthyist views about (athiest) communism. As such, the tradition arguement does not hold water. The original writer of the pledge (a protestant minister) intentionally left out such sentiment because he knew it violated the spirit of the separation of church and state. For those of you who adamantly oppose the removal of the phrase, just imagine how you would feel if your children were forced to say (or at least hear) "One nation, with no God," or "One nation, under Satan" every day.