On Sunday, February 9, 2003, at 10:57 AM, Bill Frantz wrote:
At 6:55 AM -0800 2/9/03, Sunder wrote:
And also freedom of religion. Forcing someone to say "Under God" for example.
Back in the dark ages (the 1950s, and don't anyone get nostalgic for them), when the phrase "under god" was added to the pledge, I was a student in school. From what they had taught me, I knew then that this addition violated the establishment of religion clause. The solution I devised was to simply remain silent when this phrase was said.
During the possibly more radical 60s, some of us uttered "under Satan" during this sequence. One of my friends got a trip to the Principal's office for this, where he explained that he believed in Satan and that God was just a pretender, and if the Principal could demonstrate that the U.S. officially recognizes one deity over another he would reconsider.
Unfortunately having started to question the relation between the pledge and the ideals of the country, I started to wonder why I was pledging to the flag, instead of the country. So over the years, I have a somewhat edited version (removed parts in brackets):
I don't "pledge" to either a flag or a country. I just live here. And this is where the stuff I own is located. All I ask of government is that they stay out of my way. --Tim May