my friend and I emailed each other about this…maybe you care to read it!
A short rant of mine:
"In the pledge, I believe in California, it is unconstitutional to say “under
god.” Now I believe to much of America’s politics and society is dictated by
the will of the “God of Israel, Abraham…whatever” At the G-8 conference,
Bush made a stupid reference about that our politicians should all believe in
God, and of course he is alluding to the God of the Jews, Christians, and
Muslims. Now I know the “under god” in the pledge, made in 1944, probably
ment the christian god, but isn’t it open to interpretation? I’m sure an
agnostic god wouldn’t be so offending (a god that can be anything as simple
as a plain “governing force of the universe”, like the laws of physics.)
The guy who brought the case up also brought up the case to take “In God We
Trust” of money. God can be interpretted in many fashions, because it
doesn’t say “in a christian god…” I would have to say “under god” should
stay."
and what my friend said:
"… I believe that “under god” in the pledge is a load of garbage. I think the judge ruled correctly, and I think that he’s a crap judge who went back on his decision once a few “god loving” people got a touch upset. I think that is… “fair-weather” judgeship. If you make a decision, you should be able to stand behind it 100%, and not care who is against your interpretation of the constitution.
Please, I wouldn’t want MY kids saying “under god”, until they are of age to decide if religion is for them. If it is, I won’t complain, but if they think that the big invisible man in the sky who “loves” us so much to send us to hell is a load of garbage, I’ll stand with them there too. My kids are MY kids, and no government agency will tell them to SAY “under god”. Being patriotic does not mean being religious, and those two words are not synonymous with “AMERICA RULES!” Just because I don’t want to say it doesn’t mean that I am anti-america, and I’ll go burn a flag (which I am all for, along with killin those damn babies. Heh.) My spiritual beliefs should not be tested in school, and neither should little kids be bullied into saying “under god” in class. My little sister was FORCED to say the pledge up to THIS YEAR, in 8th grade. I don’t think that’s right. She would’ve been singled out and ostracized by the teacher if she didn’t say it. Personally, I haven’t said the pledge since the 6th grade, singly for the “under god” clause in it. I love america, america fuckin rules, but I do not think that me not saying the pledge makes me love america any less, just differently, less spiritually and religiously. Also… separation of church and state much?
When they were in school, my parents had to say all that communist bullshit. They were forced to sing their songs, say their slogans, and hail their flag. Forcing kids into saying “under god” is not QUITE that extreme, but it’s bad enough. "
