The Monday letter, “Pledge was the only thing missing”, has a few facts wrong.
The writer states the country “was founded on the Declaration of Independence and that document mentions our creator four times.” While the latter part of this statement is correct, I feel I must correct the first. The Declaration of Independence was a letter written to the King of England as a way to convey the grievance and to announce the separation of the allied colonies from the British Empire. It in no way provides for the founding of the country.
This is a false concept promoted by the Christian extremist in order to make it seem that the United States was formed as a Christian nation. Event within this argument there a failure in basic logic. Yes, the document mentions a “Creator”, but in no way does it specify any particular deity, or event elude to the idea that this entity is Abrahamic.
As any reputable historian will tell you, this country was founded originally by the Article of Confederation and later cemented as a secular government with the writing of the Constitution. This is an undisputable fact that was later restated in the Treaty of Tripoli. “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” (Article 11).
As for the point that the pledge was missing. I, for one, would not be offended. I grow increasingly tired of this idea that we must constantly swear our allegiance to “God and Country.” Sounds too nationalistic for my taste. If my history lessons serve, I think that some “National Socialist Party” leader required a statement of loyalty. He even required the statement “So help me God.”
In my opinion, to force other to pledge allegiance to anything is bordering on the practice of forced allegiance to totalitarian regimes of the past, and arguably, some current dictatorships. Need I remind you what blind nationalism leads to when used by those in past. It is this very idea that lead to the circumstances surrounding the Axis powers of World War II and now being used in North Korea.
A pledge does not make one a good citizen. Only one’s actions show their level of dedication to a country. I, for one, could never honestly swear fealty to a government that would require me to do so in order to live there. Any such statement would never be sincere.
Robert Ray
President Humanists of North Puget Sound
Granite Falls
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