Forced Oaths to Pieces of Cloth

[Bill Frantz]

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.

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 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.

Except for the fact that one should not trust pledges that are made under
coercion, I am reasonably comfortable with this edited version.  It
expresses the ideal nation that I wish the United States would become.

Cheers - Bill




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