Topic: Constitutional Issues
Pledge Allegiance to the CONSTITUTION - Not the Flag Pledging to the Constitution instead of the flag would finally elevate substance over form, reality over symbol.by Alex Wallenwein
(conservative)
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Francis Bellamy, the author of the current Pledge of Allegiance, was a self-avowed socialist. How would he have phrased it, had he been a true patriot instead of a socialist ?
Like this:
I Pledge Allegiance to the CONSTITUTION for the United States and to the Republic Which It Created; One Nation, Under God, Divisible If Need Be, with Liberty And Justice For All
If our pledge had been written this way, it would have served our school children public officials (and therefore us) far better by reminding them what their true allegiance must be and must continue to go to. That is putting substance (the reality of the law of the land) over symbol (the flag).
ELEMENTS:
Why the Constitution?
We are governed by the rule of law under the Constitution, not by a flag. A flag can be wrapped around the most hideous thing or person ,and by itself carries no meaning at all. It has meaning only by association. The Constitution is what created the very government positions to which we elect our representatives - and it tells them what they can - and must not - do.
Why "the Constitution forthe United States"?
Read the Preamble. That's exactly what it says. The Constitution is the law that We the People gave our government to live by, not vice versa. It is "for"our federal politicians and judges to obey, not "of" them, for us to obey.
"To the Republic Which It Created":
That's the whole point: no Constitution, no United States, no U.S. government. This country was created by our Founders via the Supreme Law which they "established and ordained". The Constitution doesn't just "stand for" or symbolize the Republic, it created. What better symbol could there be for this country than the very thing that gives it its character and substance, its very existence, even?
"One Nation Under God"
Nothng new, here.
"Divisible, If Need Be":
The only types of clubs I am aware of that you can't freely leave after you join are criminal gangs. If people are free, then the states they form are free. Why hold them hostage to a union if the union has stopped being "theirs"? Lincoln claimed that allowing states to leave the union would result in anarchy.
No, Mr. Lincoln..It would have resulted in peace!
"With Liberty And Justice for All":
No changes here, but please note the absence of the word "prosperity". Liberty and Justice can be guaranteed under a truly free and fair system. When you start guaranteeing "prosperity" (be it real or fake, i.e., fiat money/debt-based), you are killing both Liberty (the right to do with yourself and your property as you please without hurting others) and Justice (freedom from overbearing - aka excessively funded - public officials under the rule of law).
The way things stand, a public official's oath of office (by which he swears to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic) is a one-time shot in the dark, as soon forgotten to most as it is made.
If every public occasion, every school board meeting, every football and baseball game, every political party event or rally had started out with this pledge instead of Bellamy's socialist pledge to the flag, we would live in a better, freer country today, with more watchful citizens - and more respectful public servants in Congress and elsewhere.*
* (Bills like S. 773, Rockefeller's "Cybersecurity Act ", intended to give the government control over the Internet and kill what's left of a free press and freedom of speech, would never be proposed, much less passed.)
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I also have a question: Why does God need an endorsement by the government? Or are you telling the rest of the people that they must believe in God?
Personally, I am against teaching children any creed before they are able to understand exactly what it means. Let them decide when they are old enough that they want to particiate.
If every public occasion, every school board meeting, every football and baseball game, every political party event or rally had started out with this pledge instead of Bellamy's socialist pledge to the flag, we would live in a better, freer country today, with more watchful citizens - and more respectful public servants in Congress and elsewhere.
This is nonsense. The notion that this or any other pledge will somehow magically persuade men's hearts to do good is to completely misunderstand virtually everything the constitution was conceived to address.
No, Mr. Lincoln..It would have resulted in peace!
Whats your definition of peace? Is subjugating an entire group of people in this country peaceful? You would have run away from the south tail tucked firmly between your legs? Again you missed the point of the constitution.
One Nation Under God
This is indeed new to the pledge it wasn't added until the fifties I believe. Further is demonstrates again that you have no respect for the constitution as it guarantees my right to remain God free.
We are better off without pledges. Judge me by my actions not by the words you would force me to say!
I agree , the pledge being made to the Constitution would probably not make much difference, as compared to pledging to the flag. The folks in D.C. pledge to the Constitution at every swearin. Hasn't meant much.
But I agree with the author as well. I'd prefer pledging allegiance to the Constitution over a flag. A flag is more of a military symbol or rallying point. Nice for marching bands and such. The Constitution is the heart of the nation. The farther we drift from it, the worse things seem to get.
What do you mean, "One Nation Under God" Nothng new, here"? In fact, Bellamy left it out in the original.
More importantly, a true patriot of his time would never have written any Pledge.
You would expect conservatives, and libertarians, especially, to be opposed to the Pledge on principle as contrary to the principles of a Federated Republic. When first introduced by the national socialist, Edward Bellamy, conservatives viewed the Pledge with great suspicion. Why? Because of the then foreign concept of pledging allegiance to "one nation".
To Americans of the late 19th century, “allegiance” was a feudal concept denoting subservience to a master. Americans considered themselves sovereigns, not subjects. They feared that the natural supremacy of the individual over his government, as reflected by the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed in the constitutions of the United States and of the several states, might eventually be overturned by the ideas expressed in the Pledge.
They, unlike so many Americans today, understood that those who exercise the instruments of government — public servants — feel more comfortable ruling than serving.
Why aren't you defending these fundamental conservative principles? Whatever it says, any Pledge like this is a thin attempt to turn free Americans, in their youth, into Nazi-like robots. (Oh, yes, the Pledge was originally made with arm outstretched to the flag. It was abandoned when it was realized that Hitler had adopted it for his Sig Hiel salute after admiring how American youth performed it. Look it up!)
"Francis Bellamy, the author of the current Pledge of Allegiance, was a self-avowed socialist."
So? The implication that because he was a socialist that he was unworthy to contribute to American values is itself un-American. Either you beleive in freedom of speech for all (as guaranteed by the First Amendment), or you don't.
And if you are loyal to the republic created by the Constitution, then a state leaving it is not a legal option, but treason.
The "under God" reference wasn't added in the 1950s. It should be removed ASAP as violating the First Amendment.
I Pledge Allegiance to the CONSTITUTION for the United States and to the Republic Which It Created; One Nation, under common law, with Liberty And Justice For All
Why the hell can't conservatives be more consistent in their values???
Wow...I think the God thing is all summed up with this;
We are all free to believe, or not, in whatever God we desire. However, in the same way we all have the right to speak our minds, but not the right to be heard, we do have the right to believe, or not, but we DO NOT have the right to be free FROM religion.
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