Do you think the words “under God” should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance?

[SecularMotion]

Poll results

Yes 97%

No 3%

Total Votes: 3,308,461

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/04/20327848-pledge-of-allegiance-challenged-in-massachusetts-supreme-court?lite

[cbayer]

1. Yes. Over 3 million votes, too.

[DURHAM D]

2. Yes.

I was in grade school when it was added. My Dad told me it was unconstitutional and would soon be removed. He suggested that I just remain silent for two beats. To this day I have never once said "under god".

[Tanuki]

3. Remember this gem from the half-term half-wit,

who thought it was placed there by "the founding fathers"?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/01/palin-on-pledge-of-allegi_n_122965.html

[wandy]

4. That surprises me.....

You would think god means different things to different people.
Heck, you could insert a blank there if you so desired.
Could be that's only one agnostic's point of view.

[trotsky]

5. We should use the correct language.

It's not "removing" something from the pledge, it's restoring the pledge to its original form!

[longship]

7. I don't like the concept of the pledge at all.

It's a wholly unnecessary thing, in any form.

When I became a public school teacher I had to swear an oath to uphold the US Constitution, as do all public employees.

Pledging allegiance to a flag comes off as idolatry to me. It makes no sense.

Learn the history of the Pledge at Wiki:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

It may surprise you.

[cbayer]

8. Good points. It has always made me a bit uncomfortable.

So nationalistic.

But if we are going to keep it in schools, it should be a wholly secular pledge, imo.

[longship]

10. When I taught I never recited it at all.

I required the students to at least not disrupt, and they didn't. Some recited; some didn't. Some stood; some didn't.

Interestingly, the originator was a known socialist.

[trotsky]

13. I agree, it's creepy in a way.

And part of the reason they added the extra words during the Red Scare was that there was nothing about our pledge that was significantly different than one the citizens of a totalitarian/Communist state might be given to recite.

[Goblinmonger]

18. We have to say the Pledge each day in Wisconsin schools

(or play the National Anthem). I have long argued that we should recite the preamble to the Constitution rather than the pledge. That makes a statement about what our government is rather than being jingoistic bullshit. Of course jingoistic bullshit sells.

[Starboard Tack]

20. +100 The Pledge is pure BS

[procon]

9. Hear! Hear!

It's embarrassing that so few people are even aware that the current version is NOT the original pledge. The history that brought about that ridiculous change makes it all the more appalling that it still lingers as a cherished American tradition.

[BlueToTheBone]

6. I personally leave it out now.

I will pledge my allegiance to my country, but not someone else's idea of "god"

[madrchsod]

11. i have`t pledged in years

to me it`s sort of stupid.

[rug]

12. The phrase should be buried with McCarthy.

[demwing]

14. Get rid of it

And the pledge with it.

[Iggo]

19. Yep.

[MissMarple]

15. I remember when they put it in, between first and second grade.

At least that's when the school I was in changed over. It offended my sense of order and continuity. We still are addressing the evils of McCarthyism. And because of the vagaries of human nature, I fear it will always be a battle we have to fight.

[DrewFlorida]

16. Absolutely, "under God" should be removed.

As the pledge reads now (since 1954), it is at odds with the very Constitution/bill of rights which it supposedly pledges allegiance.

I'm tired of hearing people who never would say the pledge of allegiance at home, demanding that children at public schools be forced to say it with the inclusion, since 1954, of "under God". Those very same people have every opportunity to teach it to their own children at home, instead they push it on all children as a way to indoctrinate them to believe in God.

The very reason we have a wall of separation built into the Constitution is to keep a religious majority from imposing it's beliefs upon people who believe differently.

[LostOne4Ever]

17. My reaction to that poll can only be summed up one way

Last edited Fri Sep 6, 2013, 12:03 AM - Edit history (1)

Restores some of my faith in humanity.

Honestly, even if that phrase was NOT in the pledge I would be opposed to it. People should say the pledge because they want to, not because they are forced or in this case coerced into saying it.

Have a flag outside and let the kids say whatever version of the pledge they want during their own time, but don't use class time or coercion to force it on people.

[pokerfan]

21. Fox News "tired of atheists"

Dana Perino: I’m tired of {atheists} ... If these people really don't like it, they don’t have to live here.

Eric Bolling: {Under God} was added, but it doesn’t matter. It’s on our currency.

Kimberly Guilfoyle: Why should {atheists} be catered to? Why are they so special? I find it offensive that a few people inflict their belief system. It is incredibly selfish and small-minded.

[cbayer]

22. Love it or leave it.

Now, where have we heard that before?

[pokerfan]

23. A Brief History of Loving or Leaving America

The origin of "America Love It or Leave It" is murky. It was popularized by gossip guru and Joseph McCarthy sympathizer Walter Winchell, who, among other abuses of power, helped keep entertainer/activist/national treasure Josephine Baker out of the country we're all free to love.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-sigman/rick-santorum-dennis-terry_b_1377023.html

[cbayer]

24. Thanks for that. I remember it from the anti-Viet Nam war days.

I was a young, but dirty, hippie.