another post on Pledge of Allegience: Why do we have it at all?

[WI_DEM]

Why should children or adults say a pledge anyway? Why does government want us to place our hands on our hearts and swear allegience to the flag? We are all Americans. It's a silly thing to do, imo. So the pledge with or without "under God" doesn't make any sense to me.

That's the name of 'dat tune.

[damntexdem]

1. Because Francis Bellamy was a patriot who celebrated the Union.

He thought that kids should be brought up pledging to their flag. He pushed his idea and managed to get response. It was later that Congress got into the game of playing with the pledge to advertise their brain fart of the moment.

[Lars39]

4. Actually, there was quite a bit of controversy at the time

as to whether Bellamy wrote the pledge or an editor did.
I think a Congressman was finally appealed to "settle" the matter.

[ComerPerro]

2. Heard a talk radio Bush loyalists today say that people who are

against the pledge aren't patriots. She said that it shouldn't matter that the words "Under God" are in there, because its not about God, its about pledging to the flag and the country.

So, my quesiton is, why the fuck are the words "under God" still there?

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. Loyalty oaths are a hold over from McCartheyism

There are Commies Under Your Bed!

The theory is that is a real commie has to say the pledge, their tongues will catch on fire or the will turn into goats or something like that.

[Qibing Zero]

8. Indeed.

Also, as I've mentioned before, controlling the masses is a god given right of the ruling class. Blind patriotism must be gained, and free thought must be suppressed! Huzzah!

sighface

[Redstone]

22. Absolutely right! Shades of the old Puritan witch hunts, it is.

And ridiculous blather that not one person in half a million who recites it by rote actually believes.

I still find it amazing that I didn't get kicked out of high school (back in the late 1960s) for not saying it. Maybe because I didn't make a big deal out of it; I did stand up, but would not say the words or do the hand-on-your-heart bit. Only one teacher said anything, and my only reply was to ask him how many attorneys he had, and how good they were (an utter bluff, but it worked).

Redstone

[politicat]

5. When someone writes a pledge to the consititution, I'll say it immediately

But a piece of cloth? Nope.

And the country it stands isn't doing so hot, either right now.

[eShirl]

12. say, that's not a bad idea

after all, doesn't the President have to swear to uphold the Constitution?

[Journeyman]

14. Inductees to military service pledge to uphold the Constitution. . .

they do not swear allegiance to the flag.

[politicat]

15. Yep. That's where I got the idea.

I'm a brat, married to a vet. I never joined but the concept was drilled into me from an early age.

[Eric J in MN]

6. Canada and Mexico have gotten by without a Pledge.

So did the founding fathers.

[Maple]

13. Offhand I don't know of any other country

that has one. We've always wondered why the US did.

[sweetheart]

7. Its part of the cult indoctrination

By making children recite mindless programming whilst staring at a
flag, it causes imprints that can later be used by mass media programmers
to control the population.

The concept that truth, conscience and patrotism are innate in the human
spirit is inconceivable. Rather, people must be "told" how to behave
in the cult, and then put in prison if they break out of the mind control
system, disempowered, so they can cause no mass awakening.

As life is nothing but materialism, fear and scrounging for your own,
fear for the next paycheque, fear over being employed and employable
in the class of living one is accustomed. Then the pledge is a reminder
that wisdom is not innate, and position in society is decided by your
loyalty to the cult, as much as it was in communist USSR.

[librechik]

9. It's strictly a "Red Scare" thing out of the fifties

when the Pukkkes were convinced Loyalty Oaths would save us from the commies.

I think originally (when first written, without the "Under God") they did it to raise a little mioney for the VFW selling flags to kids & schools

Soon we will execute those who do not comply. Isn't it treason to refuse to sign on to such a loyalty oath? Ask the Freepers.

Boy, are we going in the wrong direction.

[hootinholler]

17. Is that when schools started saying it?

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 it read:

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

Under God was added in the McCarthy madness.

-Hoot

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. It gives the kids something to do every morning at schhol. n/t

[gollygee]

11. I would rather see an affirmation of the goals of our country

maybe based on the preamble to the constitution.

[Eric J in MN]

16. or they could pledge "to advance liberty and justice for all"

instead of pledging that the country has already achieved that.

[cire4]

18. To indoctrinate young children with the idea that America is superior

There's a reason the Pledge of Allegience is phased out the older you get. By high school, you rarely say it all. It's something that is specifically targeted at the young and naive.

The idea is that if children grow up with ideas of American nationalism and superiority, they will be less inclined to criticize its actions in the world.

No other nation makes their children take an oath of allegience every morning(with the possible exception of North Korea). Not even similarly nationalistic countries like China and Russia do...

[Redstone]

19. I agree completely. It's a pointless, robotic ritual that doesn't

mean shit to anyone. And it smacks heavily of idol worship (see below).

On edit: I'm as much a patriot as anyone, but I won't pledge any alliegance to a FLAG. My alliegance is to my COUNTRY.

Redstone

[spuddonna]

20. Be happy we don't have to do the Bellamy salute!

They dropped that when Nazism began using it... cool link at Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_allegiance#History

[_TJ_]

21. Americans are all nuts!

Someone asked me to salute a goddamn flag I'd tell em where to
shove it!

[stepnw1f]

23. It's Not Like the GOP Really Loves Their Country

Because they seriously don't act like it. The pledge is meaningless as long as these criminals continue to kill their own people and force them into debt slavery. Fuck the GOP!