Originally posted by Eagler
why has it been ok since '54 and all of a sudden ppl are threatened by it?
politics - pure and simple
Very true: no properly motivated "godless communist" would be able to recite the pledge with those words in there. It was a means to detect subversives that were not traditional god-fearing Americans
"under God" was a knee-jerk response to commi paranoia.
There are inherent problems with our government system: we claim to support the concept that everyone has equal rights, we have a government that claims to be based on majority rule, we pass laws that show preferences to minorities, and we have a government that is founded on the separation of church and state which says Christian prayers at nearly every government and military ceremony.
How can you have equal rights if the majority determines what your rights are? Why would the majority pass laws that favor minorities? Why can't a students and teachers say Christian prayers in school when congressmen say it every day in goverment facilities on government time?
This case could be used to go one of two ways:
1) purge every last trace of religion from official government resources
2) prove once and for all that religous freedom is guaranteed even if you serve in an official goverment capacity that can influence mottos and pledges. I.e. supreme court judges can approve the use of the word "God" and prayers even in goverment buidlings, documents, mottos, and money
While it may seem extreme compared to American traditions, the constitution is very clear on separation of church and state, I don't understand why it has never been enforced properly.
For a parallel situation, consider slavery. Clearly slavery was unconstitutional, but at the time, people compromised for economic reasons. The southern economy and pride was more important than morals and justice. Of course the righteous Yankees were slave owners and traders too
and were the last to own slaves since the southern slaves were freed during the Civil War by the Emancipation Proclamation while US (northern slaves) were freed after the war.
With religion, the situation was even worse: it was practically a crime to not be a protestant. Despite the Constitution, protestant faith was incorporated into most of our government institutions. Even now the vast majority shudder at the thought that our money and our pledge might be wrong to incorporate religious overtones. Just because a major change like this is against your traditions and faith doesn't mean the change is wrong. How many so-called "Christians" owned slaves? I am far from being a pinko commie liberal, but I believe our Constitution is clear and correct to insist on separation of church and state and that the Pledge, motto on money, and group prayers on government time are unconstitutional despite the fact that the vocal majority like things the way they are.
