I 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.
one Nation under God
Should the Pledge of Allegiance be changed to support Atheist, who do not belief in God?
you should be pledging to nothing when you pledge to god
Why would you ever pledge to the absence of something? Besides, atheism isn't an unwavering absolute belief in something, it's the lack of a belief.
To give it an example of how it makes me feel to say it with 'under god' - I might as well be saying:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under The Tooth Fairy, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under The Tooth Fairy, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."
Exactly, this is a belief. But for respect out of the country I will say the pledge myself, but leave out the mythical being before indivisible.
Whats with all the false correlations in this thread? Because crime went up doesn't mean that it was cause because praying in classrooms stopped. There are a million other things that more likely contributed to this. Higher sales of weapons, gang populations increased, higher population densities, etc. I don't know exactly. But saying that crimes increased because people stopped praying is equivalent to me saying, I went to the bathroom this morning, and it cause an earthquake in china. Just because the times correspond, doesn't mean that they were causes.
Oh and also, I don't care, I think it's fine that we have under god in our pledge. It doesn't make a difference. If you don't like it, you don't have to say it.
My only point is that for me it weakens the force of my pledge/promise. I also feel uncomfortable even saying it... it's hard to explain. It's like I feel really silly. I can't even say it right, like it sounds silly in my head. The fact that the phrase was only added 50 years ago also means that I am the one saying the pledge as it was intended. By throwing a god into the mix (even if it isn't a particular god), this opens the doors to a slippery slope that I sincerely hope never happens.
This is the first place I came after I got back from work... Here is an alternative way to think about it. Instead of considering the words as meaning the actually christian god (Or any good for that matter) think of the words as actually pledging to yourself. As an atheist you believe in no higher force, so you consider yourself the god and leader of your own life. If you think of it that way, your opinion on those two words will change.
Why would you ever pledge to the absence of something? Besides, atheism isn't an unwavering absolute belief in something, it's the lack of a belief.
To give it an example of how it makes me feel to say it with 'under god' - I might as well be saying:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under The Tooth Fairy, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."
I would say that things like Assault weapon bans are more likely the culprit, but that's a debate for another time.
But it's not just "a flag". I pledging my allegiance to the flag of the U.S. and "to the republic for which it stands" meaning the U.S.
Right. In addition to the flag. Not as in pledging to America as represented by the flag but pledging to both America and the flag. What if China started using the American flag? Then what?
To give it an example of how it makes me feel to say it with 'under god' - I might as well be saying: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under The Tooth Fairy, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."
Maybe you don't believe in the Tooth Fairy, but I do. How else would money just magically appear in place of my teeth?
LOL joking (I know someone will take that seriously)!
I'm atheist and don't really mind however you have to remember it doesn't specifically say anything about what god it is, each religion could take it as their god, see my point? But i also think it makes us hypocrites with all that we rant and rave about the separation of church and state.
But i also think it makes us hypocrites with all that we rant and rave about the separation of church and state.
Really? I actually think we're a lot more tolerant than any nation that has declared itself a certain religion. But I agree that each religion could take it as their god, not really a problem in my eyes anyway.
I'm atheist and don't really mind however you have to remember it doesn't specifically say anything about what god it is, each religion could take it as their god, see my point?
This is the first place I came after I got back from work... Here is an alternative way to think about it. Instead of considering the words as meaning the actually christian god (Or any good for that matter) think of the words as actually pledging to yourself. As an atheist you believe in no higher force, so you consider yourself the god and leader of your own life. If you think of it that way, your opinion on those two words will change.
This is an interesting idea, but I still subscribe to a certain morality. Now, just to clarify, an atheist is not someone who doesn't believe in a higher force. In fact, I don't know whether or not a believe in a higher force because I don't actually know what that phrase means, now that I think about it. If you mean something more powerful than me, then I believe in hurricanes which are more powerful than me... Anyway, not having a god does not mean I don't subscribe to morals... which I think I was getting at before I started rambling. So I'm not my own god or anything like that - then I would be doomed to not believe in myself. In fact, of the few maxims that I have, making a promise is second on the list. Now I'm talking about ethics... so I'm going to stop. I would delete this entire post but then I'd feel like I have been wasting all this time...
