I'm not too worked up by the 'under God' portion of the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm more creeped out by the statist overtone of the whole thing. Pledging fealty to a state isn't the sort of thing a freedom loving populace should enjoy.
Gene Healy has more on the history of the thing, of which some may be unaware:
It's probably too much to ask politicians to reflect a little before they lunge for a political hot-button issue. But any conservatives so inclined should think about what they're defending. What's so conservative about the Pledge?
Very little, as it turns out. From its inception, in 1892, the Pledge has been a slavish ritual of devotion to the state, wholly inappropriate for a free people. It was written by Francis Bellamy, a Christian Socialist pushed out of his post as a Baptist minister for delivering pulpit-pounding sermons on such topics as "Jesus the Socialist." Bellamy was devoted to the ideas of his more-famous cousin Edward Bellamy, author of the 1888 utopian novel Looking Backward. Looking Backward describes the future United States as a regimented worker's paradise where everyone has equal incomes, and men are drafted into the country's "industrial army" at the age of 21, serving in the jobs assigned them by the state. Bellamy's novel was extremely popular, selling more copies than other any 19th century American novel except Uncle Tom's Cabin. Bellamy's book inspired a movement of "Nationalist Clubs," whose members campaigned for a government takeover of the economy. A few years before he wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, Francis Bellamy became a founding member of Boston's first Nationalist Club.
National Socialists? If you're not creeped out yet, check out these photos of children giving the preferred salute when the Pledge was first instituted.
Given its origin, it's no suprise the pledge was matched with a similar salute used by the German national socialsts.
Healy link via Marginal Revolution.
The Pledge has long been a pet peeve of mine. I called a radio station once when they were discussing forcing kids in public schools to say it and was treated like an anti-American leper. I would not mind having kids say a pledge to uphold the values of the constitution, but not the socialist pledge to a piece of cloth.
Does the Pledge of Allegiance establish a religion --the worship of government?
Public comments about the pledge court case show that few people know that the pledge was written in 1892 by a self-proclaimed socialist in the U.S. nationalist movement, to promote socialism in the most socialistic institution -government schools.
Few people know that the original salute to the flag was like the Nazi salute and that "Nazi" means "National Socialist German Workers' Party." Eye-popping photos are only at http://members.ij.net/rex/pledge1.html
An easy mnemonic device to remember that Nazis were socialists and that "Nazi" means "National Socialist German Workers’ Party" is that the horrid swastika resembles overlapping "S" shapes for "socialism," and that the Nazis often used stylized "S" symbolism. See http://members.ij.net/rex/swastikanews.html
Those are issues in the pledge debate that pre-date the insertion of "under God" in 1954.
The pledge of allegiance was authored by the self-proclaimed socialist Francis Bellamy. Bellamy was the first cousin of the socialist Edward Bellamy. Edward Bellamy's futuristic novel, "Looking Backward," was published in 1888, and described life in the year 2000. It described a totalitarian society where all private transactions are outlawed, where the government places all men in an "industrial army" and where the monolithic government school system is operated specifically as part of the "industrial army" system. Of course, all of the preceding was portrayed as a dandy utopia just as it was portrayed by so many apologists for the industrial armies of socialist hell-holes worldwide.
The book spawned a socialist movement in the U.S. known as "Nationalism," with the Nationalist magazine, and "Nationalist Clubs" whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American economy. Francis Bellamy was a member of this movement and a vice president of its socialist auxiliary group.
Francis Bellamy had often lectured on the so-called "virtues of socialism and the evils of capitalism." In 1891, he was forced to resign from his church because of his socialist activities and sermons. He then joined the staff of the magazine "Youth's Companion" and wrote the pledge of allegiance, first published therein.
In the original articles about the Pledge of Allegiance, Francis Bellamy promotes government schools and snipes at the many better alternatives, and urges that education should come only from government. It is consistent with the government school monopoly in the book "Looking Backward" and the "industrial army" promoted by the Bellamys.
Bellamy lived during the time when schools were becoming socialized heavily in the United States. When the U.S. Constitution was written, children received private educations (schools are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution).
Edward Bellamy's book was translated into 20 foreign languages. It was popular among the elite in pre-revolutionary Russia, and was even read by Lenin's wife. John Dewey and the historian Charles Beard intended to praise the book by stating that it was matched in influence only by Das Kapital.
Francis Bellamy lived from 1855 to1931. Edward Bellamy lived from 1850-1898. Edward Bellamy was spared witnessing the horrors that his socialism caused to the rest of humanity. Francis Bellamy lived in the U.S. during the first 14 years of mass atrocities under the industrial army of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Francis Bellamy might not have known about the horrors of his socialist ideas in the U.S.S.R. at that time. Francis Bellamy lived long enough to see a similar salute and philosophy espoused by the industrial army of the National Socialist German Workers' Party. If Edward Bellamy's fictional character had awakened in the year 2000 he would have learned that since 1887 Bellamy's philosophy had set and was holding all the worst records for shortages, poverty, misery, starvation, atrocities and mass slaughter.
According to R. J. Rummel's article in the Encyclopedia of Genocide (1999) the worst trio of socialist atrocities (see http://members.ij.net/rex/socialists.jpg) occurred under the industrial armies of: (1) the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 62 million deaths, 1917-'87; (2) People's Republic of China, 35 million, 1949-'87; (3) Germany under the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, 21 million, 1933-'45.
After the National Socialist German Workers' Party tried to impose socialism on the world, many U.S. citizens were disturbed by the Pledge's similar salute and that it was written by a socialist in "Nationalist" groups in the U.S. Although the salute changed, the pledge remained the same.
There is something more disturbing than all of the above: Most children are never told any of the preceding history in government schools, though each day often includes a collective robotic recital of the pledge.
It is a wonder why anyone recites the Pledge of Allegiance. It is probably because of rampant ignorance about the Pledge's origin and history.
No one would trust the government to tell you the truth if it ran the newspapers. Why would anyone expect the government to tell children the truth in government schools? As Libertarians say: The separation of school and state is as important as the separation of church and state. And that is the real solution to the pledge debate and all other school issues: remove government from education.
RexCurry.net
to learn more visit http://members.ij.net/rex/pledge1.html
Wow, it's like deja vu in here. I went back and found a couple of posts of mine from 2002 that are apposite:
this one contains an interesting debate in the comments section (including an early Atrios offering).
And this one links to much of the major blogosphere discussion at the time.
My opinion hasn't changed: I think the 9th Circuit court's ruling was inane, and that the potential for "extending" this ruling into other arenas of public policy, should it stand, makes it far more dangerous than it appears.
Weh! I never get any cred for my PoA posts!
Well, maybe I don't write as well as some o' them other folks.
But do check out what Jacob Levy writes.
I doubt that pointing out the socialistic history of the pledge will have any impact on Conservatives. Conservatives toyed with libertarian thought when they were the minority party and opposed the statism that was against their personal likings. Now that the new Straussian Conservatives are starting to feel comfortable with power, they will toss out all the garbage that came with being the Party of Lincoln, trade in their Libertarian toys and pick up all the cool socialist controls tacked to the economy by the democrats.
The interesting thing is that the left is gradually starting to rediscover libertarianism...now that they are the minority party. Listening to a talk show, I heard folks on the left complaining about the inherent corruption of RDA and strict zoning laws. They failed to realize that both programs had roots in the left. Meanwhile, conservatives were defending the right of big corporations to tax dollars from the local small businesses.
You have to applaud the antics of the mindless sheep that rule the nation. The only other alternative is to weep.
Free the pledge!
TO: Walter
RE: Slaves R US
"Very little, as it turns out. From its inception, in 1892, the Pledge has been a slavish ritual of devotion to the state, wholly inappropriate for a free people." -- Walter
You can keep silent at that part of the 'pledge' if you wish. No one is holding a gun to your little head. Or at least not as I've seen.
On the other hand, why do you want to have a bunch of people shouting out "UNDER GOD!" at the top of their lungs at that point? What would you do to them? Fall upon them with fists and boots? Or worse?
Just curious.....
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. Oh, yes....please review the First Amendment, before replying. Isn't the Freedom of Religion the first item mentioned?
P.P.S. You may not believe it, but God IS 'watching'.
P.P.P.S. Jed, please explain to the others here just how I won that 'bet' ten years ago.