One Nation Under Vishnu
"I pledge allegance 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."
The pledge. The thing every school-aged child, and new citizen, is forced to recite. With those two, little words "Under God."
I have a proposition to make for all of you who do not believe me when I say that the phrase "Under God" is offensive. Before I get to the proposition, let me give you a little bit of history on the phrase "Under God" and why it was added. The President? Eisenhower. The threat? Not terrorists--communists. Also known as the "Red Scare" or the "MacCarthy Era." The phrase "Under God" was added not because of religious reasons, but because we wanted to scare the communists away. Does this make sense? Not really, but that was the past... and this is now.
My proposition is for you to substitute Vishnu (or any other god, really works...Vishnu just sounds cool) and then say the pledge. "I pledge allegance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, under Vishnu, for liberty and justice for all." If you were forced to say that, you'd get pretty mad, right? Of course--you'd be forced to admit that there's a god--Vishnu, in this case--that you either don't believe in or don't believe exists. (My apologies to you if you're Hindu I just chose the first non-Judeo-Christian name for a god that came to mind and Vishnu was the first name--no malice intended). This is what you're doing to all the non-Judeo-Christains who go through the school system and through the process to become a citizen. Is this what the Founding Fathers of America intended? No. They wanted a completely secular, completely religious-free country where everyone could say what they wanted and not say what they didn't want to say. And please, don't tell me that children aren't forced to say the pledge--I've gotten in trouble for not saying it.
My point is simply this: whenever you have an issue, turn it around--look at it from the other person's shoes. You wouldn't like to say "One Nation Under Vishnu" so don't make someone else say "One Nation Under God."
Back to the Rants
Back Home