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I’m an agnostic Jew, but I still have no problem saying “under God” when reciting the pledge. Personally, I think if someone doesn’t want to say “under God”, they should be allowed to skip these words — or just skip them and not make a big deal out of it — and recite the remainder of the pledge.
It also doesn’t bother me that it says “In God We Trust” on our currency.
IMHO, we have much bigger battles to fight, so I don’t lose sleep over what I personally consider to be non-issues.
Given that it wasn’t written until late 1800s, it would’ve been difficult for it to have been recited much before that.
“Whey are we pledging to a symbol first”
It’s the curdeous thing to do.
Reciting the pledge may be the law, but the courts have said that students cannot be forced to say it.
Personally, I am not a big fan of the pledge for two reasons:
– Whey are we pledging to a symbol first and not the country it self, or the constitution, or something more meaningful than a flag?
– The fact that the words “Under God” got added in the 1950’s.
Does anyone know if other countries have similar rituals or pledges?
My understanding is that the pledge did not become common in the U.S until the first half of the 20th century, along with a lot of the mysticism we place around the flag.
Did *Rob on Fridays* blogicide again?
dibs, I don’t have numbers either, but I suspect we just spend less percentage wise than most advanced nations on maintaining, modernizing and developing infrastructure.
I’ve been amazed, quite frankly, at the quality of roads in Spain, Italy, Ireland, all away from the major urban centers, both in terms of maintenance and engineering.
‘Under god’ didn’t come in until I was in 6th grade & we didn’t have to say it then.
Most people my age forget it – even many members of congress.
“the Supremes?”
I thought it was the Shontelles
“Japan did get the reputation of building “roads to nowhere.””
And the US has the reputation of building “bridges to nowhere”.