Citizens Against Religious Bigotry #fundie

Citizens Against Religious Bigotry #fundie citizensagainstreligiousbigotry.org

As an citizen and a patriot, I recognize the importance of our Pledge of Allegiance. Generations of American schoolchildren learn and recite the Pledge as an important exercise in passing our national values from one generation to the next. By altering the Pledge of Allegiance in the opening montage of the Sunday round of the 2011 US Open, NBC attacked people of faith and our national heritage. As an American, I demand that NBC take immediate action by terminating the employees who used a Sunday sports broadcast to insult people of faith.

91 comments

old comment by M

'Under God' was only added during the red scare, and is in fact unconstitutional, and therefor UN-American.

Although as a European I find the entire concept of the pledge creepy as fuck to begin with. Heiling to the flag was popular in Germany once too. And guess who most resemble those Germans who said Germany was the best country ever and never wrong and who loved the German military and hated those foreigners.

Oh that's right, Rednecks who heil to the flag, support torture, support illegal oilwars, thing America is the best ever, that other countries are inferior, that America ca never be wrong etc. Their one genocide off from facism, and if those fundie rednecks where in charge, that genocide'd come quite quickly, because they're also very keen on nuking the middle east when you ask them.

Fundies = Fascist, Gott mit uns!

Hitler by the way also was a creationist (if a loosely catholic one) who rejected Darwin's theory of evolution and called it unGerman. No surprise there whatsoever.

old comment by dionysus

Oh, so you must be furious that they altered the pledge in 1954 in the first place to add "under god" to it. No? Then you have no grounds to criticize. It's either amendable or it's not, you can't have it both ways. Furthermore, it doesn't even make any sense to include "under god" with "indivisible" as there are numerous people here that believe in many gods or no gods (including religions with no deities) so including "under god" is being divisive. And once again we see that you have no grounds to criticize as you are insulting a whole bunch of people whereas not including "under god" is not an insult; an insult to monotheists would be including the words "under no god" or "under multiple gods". Simply editing it out says nothing about religion and that's the way it should be.

old comment by Neith

"By altering the Pledge of Allegiance ... attacked people of faith and our national heritage."

Yes, adding "under God" to our pledge was an attack on our national heritage. So was adding "In God We Trust" to our money, because both things violate our supposed separation between church and state.

The Pledge, as originally written by a Christian minister in 1892:

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

The Pledge, after its first alteration in 1942:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The first time "under God" was uttered in the Pledge was in 1948, but it wasn't officially added until 1954.

Before you go spouting off about our nation's history, you really should learn about it yourself.

old comment by Xotan

A pledge of allegiance, is of itself neither a good or bad thing. It could be argued, however, that it is a kind of brainwashing of children, especially in the light of its absence in other countries whose citizens are patriotic and loyal.

Most Americans I have met are patriotic. It can be a very self-conscious kind of patriotism that elevates the United States to a position that makes a certain type of American abroad rather brashly, even painfully unaware of the quieter and more tranquil, but no less valid, patriotism of citizens in other countries. Perhaps the daily repetition of the pledge does bring some negative aspects with it after all. Patriolatry should be kept at home - and that goes for all.

old comment by Anon-e-moose

"As an citizen and a patriot, I recognize the importance of our Pledge of Allegiance. Generations of American schoolchildren learn and recite the Pledge as an important exercise in passing our national values from one generation to the next. By altering the Pledge of Allegiance in the opening montage of the Sunday round of the 2011 US Open, NBC attacked people of faith and our national heritage. As an American, I demand that NBC take immediate action by terminating the employees who used a Sunday sports broadcast to insult people of faith."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

(when you see it - or don't - you'll shit bricks, CARB):

'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.'

Pledge of Allegiance. From 1924 to 1954.

I love the smell of annihilated arguments in the morning. Smells like... victory.

@Bad Wolf

"You are aware, aren't you, that the Pledge you so highly revere as a bastion of Americanism was written by a socialist - right?"

The words 'Under God' were added only after 1954, during the Red Scare then. Similarly with 'In God We Trust' on the currency:

image

The reverse of a $5 note. 1952 issue. Notice something - or not? Like I say, CARB: when you see it - or don't - you'll shit bricks.

old comment by Canadia

As a citizen and a patriot, I find the Pledge of Allegiance to be creepy and unneeded. Schoolchildren certainly do recite it, though, I myself had to on several occasions. Yeah, had to, I was actually sent to detention once for not saying it after being told to, didn't like the 'under god' bit and found it creepy then, too.

Apparently that's not the norm, as I found out later, but I think it's a great example of what having it around brings, negatively. Certainly manages to make the benefits seem slim, probably because there aren't any, unless time being taken away from doing educational things in a school, albeit not much time, is a positive effect of having the thing around.

old comment by Anon-e-moose

@LDM

"Since when do we say the Pledge before sporting events anyway?"

At important Test Matches with the England Cricket Team versus, say, Australia, India, Pakistan etc - at grounds such as The Oval, Old Trafford & the like, they don't even play our anthem 'God Save The Queen'. It's simply the toss-up by the umpire between the two teams' captains (and the winner deciding to bat or bowl); the fielders set themselves up on the ground around the pitch, and the batsmen stride out of the pavilion to play, and away they go.

No religion required. And India is the most religious country on the planet, after all.

(but then, in India & Pakistan, Cricket is a religion!)

The "pledge" isn't the most embarrassing thing americans do, but it is high on the list.

Citizens Against Religious Bigotry #fundie citizensagainstreligiousbigotry.org

91 comments

Confused?