BoBo’s Blog-O-Rama

This seems to be the hot debate recently, for some reason. Zach has had a few posts about it, and I wanted to add my two cents to the debate. Posting a comment earlier, I found that I had more to say than a comment would allow. So I deleted it and decided to post my remarks on my own page, to alow myself propper room for discussion.

So here goes…..

First, before we begin the discussion, I thought it would be nice to have a brief history of the Pledge. Because I would bet a bunch of people (myself included) have no idea where the pledge came from. Well after some research I have this to offer you. I can’t remember which website I got this from because I went to alot of them, but just run a search for “Pledge of Allegiance” and you will probably run into it like I did:P

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.’

Here are a few other tidbits picked from the ‘net:

Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance in 1942, but in 1943, the Supreme Court ruled that public school students could not be forced to recite it.

The words “under God” were added in 1954 by then President Eisenhower, who stated at the time, “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”

“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.”

Okay, I hope that gives everyone a little background on the Pledge. As you can see, it has been a controversial subject for quite a long time. Personally, I like the original alot better than the current one. But that’s just me. I like the use of the word “my” flag as opposed to “the flag of the united states of america” since it affirms that this is not just a country, it is OUR country, made of and for the people.

As for Under God, I don’t think it should be there. But I’m not going to argue that it should be removed either. I think people should leave it alone, just as it should have been left alone in the first place. The only reason “Under God” was inserted in the first place was because it was 1954, right smack dab in the middle of the red scare. We couldn’t have the godless communists mussing up our great republic! And the only reason it’s still there is our constant fear of Godless savages like Muslims (well, they aren’t godless, but to christians they are, because they worship someone else) and gays.

So here is why we shouldn’t remove “Under God” from the Pledge. For starters, references to religion are everwhere in this country, from the patriotic songs we sing like “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” to the national anthem itself. Just about every piece of American currency says “In God We Trust” somewhere. Even the sacred Declaration of Independence has refference to a creator. So if we removed God from everything, we would have to erase quite a bit of our history and I am not willing to do that. We have to cherrish our history and learn from it, not re-write it every time we feel like it. So I propose instead of removing terms like “god” and “creator” from everything, just fuckin’ ignore it. I am not religious, but I sing along with the national anthem, I celebrate christmas, and I bow my head respectfully during prayer before races. Just because you don’t agree with someone, doesn’t mean you are right. Respect people who have different views than yourself.

The extreme anti-religious people just don’t understand that they can choose to ignore things, just like you can change a tv channel, although the government still deems it necessary to tell me what I can watch. But the extreme pro-religion people don’t realize that this country is not “one nation, under god”. They take it too seriously. This country is “one nation, made for and of the people”. Yeah, we the people. Not “We the Christian”, “We the People” and that means all of us. Both sides of the argument need to be more respectful to each other because it is OUR country, not HIS. Get it?

I respect people’s right to say “under god” and I respect people who don’t want to, to stand silent and say nothing. Because our rights of freedom of speach allows us to do such. All I ask is civility, not loyalty. I don’t know why that is so hard for people.

So I guess if you are arguing about the Pledge, argue about the meaning, not the wording. The Pledge reflects and pays tribute to the values upon which this country was founded. It is not in my opinion, a public prayer, unless you want it to be one. Personally, I am more upset that “equality” is not in the pledge, than “under god” being in it. As for the pro-life people, shut up! Equality and justice is implied, you don’t need to be that specific. If we keep adding shit to the pledge, children will be reciting it until lunch.

But once again, this is getting too long, I think you get my points, and if you don’t, I can always add more later:P So I leave you with my pledge of allegiance:

I pledge allegiance, to my flag, and the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty, equality, and justice for all.

The extra stuff is not needed to me. And “the” is replaced by “My” because the flag is mine, as a citizen of this country. “United States of America” is implied by “republic for which it stands”. I don’t believe in god, so “under god” is left out. But equality is added in it’s place, because I think it is more important a virtue than religion which often promotes the opposite. Mind you, this is MY Pledge, you can make yours how you wish:P

I hope all of this makes scence and doesn’t confuse more than it enlightens, but, afterall it is just my opinion. You can perceive the pledge the way you like it. You can recite it any way you wish. Hell, you can choose not to recite it. These are rights we all have as citizens of this country. But the pledge isn’t as important as the values it promotes. People argue about the pledge, while they forget the actual values it discusses. No country is greater than it’s citizens.

I offer this advice to people. Instead of bitching about being exposed to religion, or bitching about being forced to acknoledge it’s existence, ignore the parts about god. Move on with your life. Stop being self centered. And as for the pro religious people, stop worrying about every one else and focus on your own spirituality. We don’t want to be saved. Let us all worship the way we choose and keep it to ourselves. Does that make scence? I hope it does.

I just want to make it clear that I am not saying that either side is completely right or wrong. But that we talk about how great this country is, while doing little to make sure it remains great. As long as we fight amongst ourselves, we gain nothing. I’m tired of the liberal/conservative bullshit. We are Americans. We all basically believe the same core values. Can’t we all agree on anything? Without name calling and finger pointing? Too often, things are about personal gain and greed instead of actually helping your fellow man. I love this country, but it needs help. I am embarrassed by the constant bickering. I want us to be united again. I don’t want “happy holidays” I want “Merry fucking Christmas”!

Well, I am ranting more than I want to. I hope some of my points can be filtered out of all of this:P I don’t plan these posts, they just come out, so they aren’t refined most of the time:P

And so I leave you with the quiz of the day. Zakk Wylde started his carreer with Ozzy Osbourne, and as you probably know, he has his popular side project “Black Label Society”. But he had a side project before BLS, what was it called? Hint: I’m not talking about the Book of Shadows record which came out under “Zakk Wylde”. For bonus points, what is the meaning of SDMF? Also, what nickname does Black Label Society’s drummer go by? Good luck with that:P

BoBo