An interesting, alternative perspective on the whole Pledge of Allegiance flap.
” NEW YORK, July 15 (UPI) — When I say “one nation under God,” I can take or leave the “under God” part, but I’m a fanatic about the “one nation” part. Has anyone ever considered that we’re possibly arguing over the wrong words?
The screwy thing about the self-righteous posturing of the past two weeks — and, by the way, you can stop sending me e-mail with Red Skelton’s interpretation of the Pledge of Allegiance, I already have 39,000 copies — is that “under God” is at best just a throwaway line, which is why it wasn’t in the pledge to begin with.
It just expresses a vague desire to acknowledge that, yes, the Big Guy is watching what we do. It was actually added to slam communist Russia.
But the “one nation” thing is the meat of the Hungry Man dinner, considered so important that the pledge hammers it home with the word “indivisible.” I’ll bet there are lots more people who disagree with THAT part of the pledge than there are people who bridle at the words “under God.””
Read the whole article at:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020715-014325-5149r
khaosworks
Unlike “under God”, though, the war over “one nation, indivisible” has already been fought. 🙂
Rob Wynne
Well, kinda. It’s been fought, but I’m not entirely sure it was completely won.
-R
lothie
You know, when the “under god” thing first got all in the news, I said, “Well, fuck, they should take out the bit about ‘one nation, indivisible’ because after all, it’s NOT…Texas is actually allowed to secede under certain circumstances!”
Rob Wynne
“One nation, indivisible” is an ideal. And one I’m afraid we fall much too short of in practice these days.
I love the diversity of America. It’s has the potential to be our greatest of strengths. While other countries are plunged into darkness and civil war because of the inability of two ethnic groups to get alogn with each other, we are comprised of every possible group imaginable, living together as one people.
That’s the idea, at least. We seem to have lost somehow the notion that you can be whatever it is you are and be from whereever it is you came from, but first and foremost, you are an American, with all the amazing rights and priviledges that entails. I blame this as much on the right-wing “How Dare You Be Different” crowd as I do on the left-wing “Assimilation is Cultural Extinction” crowd. Both extremes are, as extremes are wont to be, rather wide of the actual mark.
It doens’t ultimately matter if you’re Asian-American or African-American or Mexican-American or European-American….all of them are Americans, are part of the great social experiment that is the United States.
Maybe that US doens’t really exist in the real world, but it’s the US that I believe in, and will continue to strive to see realized.
Love,
-R
lothie
I SO agree with you….*hugs ‘n’ love*
bardling
You and me -- idealists both, eh? Even if I really am not an anything-american (but was for a time an honoured guest, made to feel welcome!): *hugsmooches*
Rob Wynne
Absolutely. Ideals are like stars — even if they may not be reached, they may still be steered by.
Love,
-R