tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084043405927048484.post8338288656963681215..comments2022-01-04T04:50:55.112-08:00Comments on Words from the Wildernesse: Anchor of LibertySteve Osbornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12141856121742846343noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084043405927048484.post-28677104976742325952010-05-16T15:00:50.017-07:002010-05-16T15:00:50.017-07:00Hi Doug,
You make a good point. The "under G...Hi Doug,<br /><br />You make a good point. The "under God" was inserted when the US was engaged in an ill conceived cold war with "Godless Communism."<br /><br />The first amendment guarantees religious freedom, which includes the freedom not to believe. and should not force an atheist to acknowledge the existence of a God, nor does it allow an atheist to dictate that there shall be no public religious observances because he or she doesn't believe in them and therefore finds them offensive.<br /><br />One freedom that should not exist is the freedom for anyone or any government to force people to believe or not believe in a religion, a philosophy, a political philosophy or to, in any way, obstruct freedom of thought or opinion.Steve Osbornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12141856121742846343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084043405927048484.post-38555173539900154762010-05-16T13:42:54.011-07:002010-05-16T13:42:54.011-07:00The government's addition of the words "u...The government's addition of the words "under God" to the pledge of allegiance in 1954 was a mistake, which should be corrected. Under our Constitution, the government has no business calling on its citizens to voice affirmation of a god in any circumstances, let alone in the very pledge the government prescribes for affirming allegiance to the country. The unnecessary insertion of an affirmation of a god in the pledge puts atheists and other nonbelievers in a Catch 22: Either recite the pledge with rank hypocrisy or accept exclusion from one of the basic rituals of citizenship enjoyed by all other citizens. The government has no business forcing citizens to this choice on religious grounds, and it certainly has no business assembling citizens' children in public schools and prescribing their recitation of the pledge--affirmation of a god and all--as a daily routine.Doug Indeaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16049465653137283724noreply@blogger.com