...or is it Jesus?
I don't mean God is everywhere in that wonderful, figurative sense, where the beauty of God (or life, creation, science, physics, what have you) is everywhere, like Einstein said. I mean, literally, God is everywhere. God is in the Pledge of Allegiance, something forced upon all children in public school every morning. God is on the money in your pocket - bills and coinage. God is all over the Bible, which is what you have to swear upon before giving testimony in courts. God is in our sporting events, in song (God Bless America), in players pointing skyward, and in the long-winded, praising rants during post-game interviews. All this is before you include the obvious places - churches, televangelists, billboards, theatre, pamphlets from oddball splinter groups, cults, and of course, every conflict ever known to man.
Let's focus on the things that are worth debating; I'm talking about those institutionally implemented, government-sanctioned places - national pledges, currency, and courts.
On July 4th, I attended the AAA Charlotte Knights baseball game in Fort Mill, SC. Several thousands of people packed the normally quiet stadium, mainly for the popular after-game fireworks show. When the Bulls-Knights contest concluded, a paunch, pale man waddled out to home plate and took his place as MC of the postgame festivities; it quickly became apparently that he was a right-wing radio personality, though people didn't seem to particularly know him. There were some nice gestures, a flag display carried by troops from each branch of the armed services, and some other patriotic displays. Then, he moved on to request the crowd tand, and invoke the Pledge of Allegiance. "And there are a couple of words I want to hear REAL LOUD!" he spat; by his political leanings, I was guessing they weren't "one nation, indivisible."
Sure enough, it was in fact, 'under god', which he emphasized will all his conservative emcee-ing might.
Now, I know I am in the South. I've technically been in the south since 2005, although Florida is an odd mash of political leanings and cultures. I know I am in the south because I see a lot of trucks, a lot of blond white people, guys wearing confederate flag t-shirts in public (usually with a back that says 'IF THIS SHIRT OFFENDS YOU, YOU NEED A HISTORY LESSON!'), a lot of uneducated, piss-poor drivers, NASCAR fans, steak and barbecue pork places, and citizens in uproar over NAACP requests to take down confederate flags on highways and public buildings. Not that I dislike the south; Charlotte is just about my favorite city on the planet, and surpasses the others I've lived within the borders of in all kinds of categories. I work with incredibly intelligent, gifted programmers. So I don't look down on the South; I can simply be aware of some features that come along with residing within it.
All that being said, that pledge phrase being forced down my throat at a public event was offensive. I am sorry, conservative radio guy, but a large segment of the populace isn't that into God. A lot pay lip service or go to church, but don't care. Some of us are more outspoken in our agnostic tendencies (militant atheists, they are called). Some of us are just as zealous and steadfast in our beliefs as any religious person. Urging a stadium full of people to choke out the phrase 'under god', and leveraging the national pledge in order to do so, is pretty weak, considering you have the only microphone. How about you give me a microphone, and we debate it out?
The Pledge of Allegiance didn't originally have 'under god' included. As a matter of fact, early in the 20th century when he created it, Francis Bellamy wanted the following:
"He had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided they were too controversial since many people opposed equal rights for women and blacks."
That's right - no God in the original version, just equality and fraternity. But much of the US was still sexist and racist, so that was quickly taken out. Instead, after years of looking at the Pledge and deciding there just wasn't enough God in there, the Knights of Columbus starting fighting for the addition of "under god" to the pledge. It was widely rebuffed for three years, until they finally managed to corner Dwight Eisenhower and convince him it was a good idea. In 1954, it was signed into law. Thirty-four years later, I spoke it in school for the first time, coming to an abrupt stop at those words, and wondering how exactly I felt about them. Under god? I don't know if there is a god. I don't know how I even feel about God. Fer Chrissakes, I'm seven years old, people! Why am I being forced to recite this crap??
Believing in God is a deeply personal thing. It is not something everyone can agree on. It is something a sizable group of folks in the United States don't believe in at all - and have negative feelings about. The basic precept here is that atheists, agnostics, whoever they are should have the right to have their opinions, feelings, and faiths, without an opposite viewpoint being part of state or national doctrine, whether in a pledge, on money, or in swearing on a bible before testimony. It doesn't hurt, really - it's been this way for years and years, after all - it's just a symbolic gesture that's staring us in the face all day, saying 'what you believe is incorrect' on some basic level, endorsed by the country. That kind of stings, as well as making the country look ignorant of its own population, as well as it's stance on religious freedom.
I would assume it is the same as if 'God is Dead' was written on money, said in a seance by Congress every morning, and the national anthem was "God, don't bless America, because you're dead." Now imagine a majority of people either felt that way, or were okay with it being everywhere. Isn't that the least bit offensive to you believers out there? You could still believe in God, in private, and feel how ever you wanted - but the national Anthem had a big ol' GOD IS DEAD that you had to sit through whenever some left-wing blowhard was feeling especially patriotic. Stupid? Ridiculous? Offensive? Out of place?
Congratulations. That is why it should be taken back out of the Pledge. End of story.