I pledge allegiance to, unless otherwise directed

Under Which God Do We Pledge Our Allegiance?
By Joseph Walther



Two things happened this past week and both are noteworthy. The first concerns a matter of national monumental littleness. The second presents a humorous glimpse at relativity. Let’s get right to the heart of both matters.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the reference to “one nation under God” violates children’s right to be “free from coercive requirement to affirm God.” In other words, the judge ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because of the term, “under God.” This stew, left cooking and unattended for years, has finally boiled over. We have to clean the kitchen as quickly as possible because there is dried out stew all over the place and it’s starting to smell the place up.

Michael A. Newdow, an avowed atheist, physician and lawyer has been unhappy about the “under God” business for years. He wants the Pledge of Allegiance restored to its original text, which did not mention God. “It’ll be emotional when it’s ruled that all Americans should be treated equally,” is what he said about the ruling. I’m paraphrasing here, but he also said that forcing his daughter to utter “under God” is tantamount to forcing her to admit that her father is wrong.

Equal treatment is a relative term and is, therefore, virtually impossible to accomplish. Attempting this feat has reduced our legal system to a shambles. The idea that the law can be all things to all people is impossible and plainly stupid. Our willingness to let the majority rule, assuming an honest majority with fact-based opinions, is the essence of a democratic society. Unfortunately, majority rule and equality for all are not synonymous. In fact, the two are, diametrically opposed, more often than not. We have to start understanding this. Sometimes crap just happens.

In the interest of some historical perspective, there was a fear-charged atmosphere in this country back in the early fifties. Those nasty, filthy, and Godless Commies were scaring the bejeezus out of the bible thumpers. I don’t think that the rest of us were feeling overly secure, either, given the news media’s propensity to accentuate the negative. So, Congress, with pressure provided by the Knights of Columbus, came to our rescue in 1954 by adding the words, “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.

I am old enough to remember reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school before the wording change. Politicians have an uncontrollable urge to say things and pretend they are solving problems. We eat this up. We like to feel good and nothing resonates with us like a simple solution, even though the problem is complex. Since our leaders didn’t have a clue what to do about Communism back in those days, the move by Congress to add those fateful words was an attempt to make the masses feel more secure. It was a knee-jerk reaction to a seemingly unsolvable problem, just as our leaders of today have “declared war on terrorism.” It all sounds nice but it will eventually come back and bite us squarely on our collective ass. Do any of you feel those damn teeth?

I do not think that Dr. Newdow is evil incarnate because of his beliefs or the actions he has taken. However, in my opinion, a narcissistic personality more logically accounts for his actions than any genuine concern for America and its Constitution. Additionally, I don’t think he’s as concerned for his daughter’s feelings as he is with his need to “control”: people as well as circumstances. He loves his daughter but the uncontrollable urge to control renders the love secondary. A First Amendment issue, while technically correct, is more of a convenience than a matter of monumental urgency. What could be any better than a cause heaped with large portions of apparent constitutional flaws, ranking relatively low on the boogieman scale, and guaranteed to burst the veins on our collective foreheads? This is a talking heads bonanza and a virtual narcissist’s wet dream!

He surely knows the pain this causes for his daughter. Nine year olds can be cruel as hell. The ridicule she will endure as a result of this sickens me. Someday, this child will be old enough and smart enough to dish this crap right back at her father. He’ll wonder what hit him. For the life of me, I cannot fathom doing this to one of my children.

While it is true that we face some tremendously dangerous problems, globally as well as nationally, having the term, “under God”, in the Pledge of Allegiance is not even on the radar screen. On a scale of zero to ten, it has to rank somewhere between zero and one. Global warming melting the icecaps, racial discrimination, an ever enlarging base of poor people who are getting poorer by the hour, increasing white collar crime, scary political and social polarization, and terrorists throughout the world trying to annihilate us, are just a few of them. If Dr. Newdow thinks that having the words, “under God,” in our Pledge is a greater threat to our national well-being than just these few things, then I fear that he is one of the real boogiemen that we need to watch.

The United States Supreme Court must deal with this. I mean bring it to conclusion, not skirt the issue the way it did the first time. Rule one way or the other. Those inevitably drawn to disagreeing with practically everything need to get over it and themselves. We, as a nation, have bigger fish to fry.

On a lighter note, I stopped at a sub/steak shop this past Saturday night. There were two cash register stations manned. One of the clerks was a young woman about 19-years old. A man knocking on fifty’s door was working the other cash register, which was right next to the other one. A customer at the young woman’s station asked about another employee named Betty. This confused the clerk because she didn’t know Betty. The customer began a description. “Oh, you mean Doris,” she exclaimed. “Is she an older woman?” “Yes,” said the customer. The other clerk, with a condescending smirk, admonished the young clerk. “Doris is thirty. That’s not old!” I spoke up and said, “It is if you are eighteen.”

Age is a chronologic absolute that is situationally relative. In other words, to 15-year olds the world over, thirty is ALMOST DEAD! If you’re my age, get your affairs in order NOW.

That’s it for now. Have a great week.

Joseph Walther is a freelance writer and publisher of The True Facts. Send comments to: TheTrueFacts@comcast.net