Forced Oaths to Pieces of Cloth

[Tyler Durden]

Bill Frantz wrote...

"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."

Well, this is probably a lot better than nothing, particularly for a young 
person.

But for someone older I would suggest that this is, to some extent, a dodge.

Why? Because who is it you are pledging TO? The notion of the Pledge of 
Alleigiance as we know it is a public proclamation of one's affinities. And 
in this case, if no one in authority can make out that certain portions of 
the Pledge are not being stated, then I would argue that not stating them is 
almost as good as useless. It's kind of like a kid crossing his fingers 
behind his back while telling a promise, to negate the "lie" of the promise.

-TD







>From: Bill Frantz <frantz at pwpconsult.com>
>To: cypherpunks at lne.com
>Subject: Re: Forced Oaths to Pieces of Cloth
>Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2003 10:57:14 -0800
>
>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
>
>
>
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Bill Frantz           | Due process for all    | Periwinkle -- Consulting
>(408)356-8506         | used to be the Ameican | 16345 Englewood Ave.
>frantz at pwpconsult.com | way.                   | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA


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