When I speak up against “under God” in the pledge people keep assuming I am against all religion throughout society. One blogger, “Miss Szymanski” at defendchristianfaith.blogspot.com writes “WHY? Why would they remove God from the Pledge? * * * They want a nation WITHOUT God; they want to rid our society of God.”
This is rude and it is false.
It is rude because this is an example of leaping to conclusions and judgments about others without so much as a single word of dialogue beforehand. Not very Christian behavior on the part of these folks. We’ll see if this particular blogger corrects this oversight by posting the polite comment I left on her site and having some follow up discussion or not.
It is false because it is false. I don’t seek to rid society of religion or else I would not be prepared to die, if necessary, to defend this woman’s right to profess her version of Christianity her way at her expense on her time, in any way that does not unreasonably intrude on others. The same goes for the same right to religious liberty enjoyed by my Hindu friends, my Buddhist friends, my Taoist friends, my pagan friends, my atheist friends, and my Christian friends which span the gamut from Jehova witness, Mormon, and Catholic, to Quaker and non-denominational.
Want to proselytize? No problem, provided you aren’t overly invasive and your audience can walk away. Want to stand about and pray in public on public property? No problem, so long as its on your own time at your expense and you’re not causing disruption or safety problems regarding other people’s equal access and use of the public space.
In fact, in my view it is the duty of every patriot to defend everyone’s right to practice their religion their way, within these parameters. That duty is no greater if we are of the same faith, and it is no less if we are of different faiths. The right to religious liberty is of equal magnitude for all citizens, regardless of creed.
That said about your PRIVATE right to religious liberty, I am equally opposed to government expressing or even appearing to express opinions on the existence of “God” or any other deities and related subjects.
This is what the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause is all about.
Thus, when those who oppose the over-Christianization of government by defending religious liberty under the First Amendment are accused of trying to purge “God” from all aspects of society, that is sometimes true and sometimes false. It depends on who we are talking about. It is true that some activists do indeed want to purge society of all expressions of religion. I don’t, and neither do many of my colleagues. Accusing us of this ultimate goal without so much as a single word of inquiry is a perfect example of fear mongering by the ultra-right christians among us. The same sort of fear-mongering was one of the tools Hitler used to gradually cajole the German people into thinking less and condemning others more. I doubt the true Christians in the audience so dearly want political power that they are willing to be associated with that political strategy - which is what fear mongering is, after all. A tool for political power.
The antidote (or maybe the vaccine) is respectful dialogue with those of differing views. Again, we’ll see if the blogger referenced above wishes to censor my views or post my polite comments for followup discussion on her site.
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Nubis Pertusus, ready to defend your right to pray at your expense, on your time, in your way, to whatever god(s) and/or goddess(es) you like, provided you don’t unreasonably intrude on others.
Tags: allegiance, god, one nation under god, pledge, Politics, religion
