{"id":925,"date":"2010-07-06T16:17:46","date_gmt":"2010-07-06T23:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groansfromwithin.com\/?p=925"},"modified":"2011-07-06T20:06:29","modified_gmt":"2011-07-07T03:06:29","slug":"an-image-of-my-former-self-why-we-must-remain-one-nation-under-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thepangeablog\/2010\/07\/06\/an-image-of-my-former-self-why-we-must-remain-one-nation-under-god\/","title":{"rendered":"An Image of My Former Self: Why We Must Remain "one nation, under God""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have not always had many of the more \u2018controversial\u2019 views that I hold today.\u00a0 For most of my life, I embraced a typical evangelical stance on everything from theology to politics.\u00a0 However, as I have been engaging the Scriptures for the past 6 years, my views on several (not all) of these issues have transitioned in significant ways.\u00a0 One distinctive that is more than obvious is that I finally chose to embrace my Anabaptist roots.\u00a0 As a child and teenager, I was a cultural Mennonite, but a theological conservative evangelical and therefore a conservative political advocate.\u00a0 Now, I have a strong suspicion of all things \u2018empire,\u2019 yet I also realize that not everything that the empire does is evil.\u00a0 There are many \u2018greater goods\u2019 that the empire can accomplish.\u00a0 Nevertheless, I am weary of the cross and the flag being too closely held together.\u00a0 In this post, my hope is that you will see that I have been on a journey and that many of my views that frustrate my more conservative readers did not come about on a whim, but have been part of the spiritual journey that God\u2019s Spirit has me on.\u00a0 This is a speech I gave for my Oral Communications Class in College back in 2004.\u00a0 Here is \u201cAn Image of My Former Self\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a pledge to never forsake the greatest country in the world.\u00a0 As we gaze into the stars and stripes of the flag, we reflect on the price of freedom.\u00a0 The blood that has been spilled for you, for me; in the days before us.\u00a0 Where the American flag soars through the sky, so freedom soars higher than anything else in the land.\u00a0 We are a free people, the flag reminds us of that freedom; and the pledge is a promise to uphold all that the flag represents.\u00a0 The pledge of liberty.<\/p>\n

The Pledge of Allegiance has a unique history that is worthy of mention.\u00a0 The original version was written in 1892 by a socialist clergyman named Francis Bellamy.\u00a0 It read: \u201cI pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.\u201d \u00a0In 1924 the words \u201cmy flag\u201d were substituted with \u201cthe flag of the united states of America.\u201d Then, 1942 the government officially recognizes the pledge.\u00a0 In 1954 the words \u201cunder God\u201d were added after \u201cone Nation.\u201d\u00a0 President Eisenhower approved this addition on Flag Day.\u00a0 This was stirred up a few years earlier by Louis A. Bowman who was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.\u00a0 This would be approved in light of the atheistic communist threat.<\/p>\n

President Eisenhower said this at the Flag Day ceremony:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America\u2019s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country\u2019s most powerful resource in peace and war.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In, 2002 the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rules that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in the public school system is an unconstitutional blending of church and state.\u00a0 This was in favor of a father named Michael Newdow from Elk Grove, CA.\u00a0 Then, in 2003 US Supreme Court says it will come to a decision about whether it is a blend of church and state.\u00a0 By 2004 US Supreme Court droped case because the father of the student did not have sufficient legal custody of his daughter.\u00a0 Therefore, the high court avoided having to address this question of separation of church and state.<\/p>\n

The Pledge of allegiance obviously has caused much controversy over the last couple of years.\u00a0 Does a policy that requires teachers to lead students that are willing to recite the Pledge that includes the words \u201cunder God\u201d violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment? (Government can\u2019t establish a state-religion). \u00a0For those who would say that it does, it is because they look at history and see that the infamous words were added much after the adoption of the Pledge by our US government.\u00a0 At a first glance it does appear that it is a pro-religious statement, which cannot possibly be all-inclusive.\u00a0 For instance, this statement does not appear to apply to pluralistic or atheistic streams of thought.\u00a0 So, how does this not infringe on the Establishment Clause of the first Amendment?<\/p>\n

What if I answered that by saying that the words \u201cunder God\u201d in the Pledge of Allegiance, represent the fact that all men have \u201ccertain unalienable rights\u201d when considered in it\u2019s context?\u00a0 Allow me to explain.\u00a0 It is more than apparent as we look back to when our country was founded, that our entire governmental system was based on the belief that the government could never infringe on the inalienable rights that were given by a Creator.\u00a0 The Declaration of Independence proclaimed:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.\u00a0 That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The founding fathers decided that they must establish a limited government that would never infringe on these God-given rights.\u00a0 With this, comes the right to choose religion or to choose otherwise.\u00a0 The government\u2019s authority over the individual is limited because of the foundational belief that God has created all men with such rights.<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cunder God\u201d also was a direct attack on the Communist system of the former Soviet Union.\u00a0 In the early 1950\u2019s, the threat that Communism had on our free society was great.\u00a0 In our democratic republic society, we have already established that our government\u2019s foundation is on our \u201ccertain inalienable rights\u201d that we were created with as stated in the Declaration of Independence.\u00a0 Communism does not recognize such rights.\u00a0 This worldview excludes a Deity, and therefore excludes that people have these rights.\u00a0 Our country\u2019s basis of rights is because at the root of our philosophy is our belief that these rights had to of come from somewhere.\u00a0 Or perhaps Someone.<\/p>\n

The question then becomes, how can a government claim to be religiously neutral and still have a monotheistic statement?\u00a0 It is impossible for any philosophy to have a foundation that is completely in every respect neutral.\u00a0 So foundationally, yes, our country is based on a monotheistic God.\u00a0 However, that does not mean that operationally America is religious or not religious.\u00a0 What it means is that the \u201cunder God\u201d that our Pledge to the flag contains, is merely in reference to the belief that every person does indeed have \u201ccertain inalienable rights.\u201d\u00a0 With this as our government\u2019s foundation, a person has the right to choose any religion or the lack their of, in order to suit that person\u2019s personal convictions.\u00a0 If we remove \u201cunder God\u201d, we will be removing the philosophy that granted us religious freedom in the first place.\u00a0 We must not allow this to happen.\u00a0 Our freedom to choose a religion or to abstain depends on the implication of that phrase.\u00a0 We must remain as \u201cone Nation, under God.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHAT HAS YOUR JOURNEY BEEN LIKE SPIRITUALLY, THEOLOGICALLY, AND POLITICALLY?<\/strong><\/p>\n

OTHER THOUGHTS?
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have not always had many of the more \u2018controversial\u2019 views that I hold today.\u00a0 For most of my life, I embraced a typical evangelical stance on everything from theology to politics.\u00a0 However, as I have been engaging the Scriptures for the past 6 years, my views on several (not all) of these issues have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,73],"tags":[100,423,19172,19177,592,596,597],"class_list":["post-925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nationalism","category-politics","tag-one-nation-under-god","tag-jesus","tag-nationalism","tag-patriotism","tag-pledge-of-allegiance","tag-politics-and-faith","tag-politics-of-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Image of My Former Self: Why We Must Remain "one nation, under God"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have not 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