New Pledge of Allegiance

[rzr]

My grandma gets these weird email subscription **** and shares them with me. This one, I want to share with you guys.


Written by a 15 year old in Arizona:

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rules
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.
If scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now
Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene
The law is specific, the law is precise
Prayers spoken cloud are a serious vice.
For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all...
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.
We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.
We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen
And the "unwed daddy," our Senior King
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong
We're taught that such "judgements" do not belong
We can get condoms and birth controls
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed
No word of God must reach this crowd
It's scary here I must confess
When chaos reigns the school's a mess
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!

This is some seriously deep stuff right here. Discuss. Possibly move to CT. I'm going to pass this along to everyone I know. Will definitely go on my MySpace and a random thought.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating a religious discussion, nor am I myself particularly religious. However, I'd like to spark a conversation of some stimulating post. Preferably political, but anything is good.

[Bolth mannn]

i am a christian myself and i totally agree with this,

its like any mention of christianity scares everyone, so they make it against the law, when something like witchs is perfectly fine.

[Archelos]

I'm agnostic and I think people make a bigger deal of the Pledge of Allegiance than they should. I never minded hearing "Under God". In fact, even my mom, who is an Atheist, said it didn't bother her, and if it's going to bother anyone it's going to bother either an Atheist, or a Satanist. She said she simply didn't recite that part of the Pledge because she didn't stand for it.

The argument, though, is separation of church and state. And forcing people to acknowledge god is not separation of church and state. Of course, what is actually meant by "separation of church and state" is really beyond me; things like the Constitution, the Pledge, and all that stuff was written hundreds of years ago by white religious males. Things have different meanings over time.

On the literary side, I thought this was really cool.

[Dimitri13]

Not deep at all. It's just rhyming with some religious words.

[ShAiOnEi]

Hail Satan **** religion

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2008/04/...ee_all_day.php

[Afrobean]

Biased as ****. Religion in schools is fine on a PERSONAL level, but in any instance where there is guided prayer or teaching of the bible as fact, that cannot be allowed. It makes mention of freedom. You have freedom. But I have freedom too. I don't want my freedom of religion being infringed by having guided prayer or classes teaching scripture as fact.

People see atheism as a religion, but in the case of PUBLIC schools, it's actually more of a "no religion" rather than "no god". You can believe what you want, teachers can believe what they want, but no one should be allowed to play missionary to those are do not wish to hear it, FACULTY ESPECIALLY, as children often will follow authority figure's advice without rhyme or reason.

It talks about studying "witchcraft, vampires and totem poles". Really? You want Christianity taught in schools and studied the same way we study WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRES, AND TOTEM POLES? I don't mind dissection of religious texts if they're taught as allegories and non-literally true. I took a class on mythology. The teacher didn't tell us that there really was a Lord of the Underworld named Pluto/Hades. She didn't tell us that when we die, we must cross the River Styx in Charon's ferry. Shut up.

ps by the way, separation of church and state doesn't really exist. The reason why religion isn't taught in schools is written right there in the Bill of Rights, Amendment I of the Constution:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

You teach Christianity in public schools, and that would be an "abridgment" if I ever saw one.

[Gigispackles]

I'm Aethist, too, and it doesn't bother me hearing 'under God' in there. I just don't like to recite that section. People really do make too big of a deal of the Pledge. It's just a pledge that signifies patriotism to the U.S. That's how I see it. If there is religion in there, big whoop. As long as it doesn't go extreme and force people into saying it or anything like that.

Rabble, rabble, rabble, yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah, opinion, opinion, opinion.

[DrKirth]

I always thought it was 'under guard'. Go figure.

[Tokzic]

Afrobean's pretty much got it.

I don't really know what that whole thing is about. What exactly does the kid want? If someone prays quietly to themselves, fine. On the other hand, if someone tries to tell me how great god is, I don't see why they'd get upset when I tell them how I think their religion is dumb. I'm not offended, I just think being in a cult is a pretty stupid thing to do, and if you try to tell me it isn't, you shouldn't be surprised when I say you're wrong.

Seriously, why does this guy want to talk about his religion to people who don't want to hear it, anyway? Maybe he should take a hint and keep it to himself.

[Syhto]

Having a pledge to america hurts my feelings because I'm not from america and i was forced to move here against my will, remove it

no really though, I pretty much agree with afro.

That "poem" was crap. First of all, what kind of ghetto ****head school are they going to that allows all colors of hair and all types of piercings, cussing, and wearing outrageous clothes? Second, witchcraft and etc? (......) Wow, just wow

I'm religious and I basically agree with Afro, I mean come on. I don't mind it being in there/saying it, personally, but yeah

[Dimitri13]

Afro wins the thread, requesting lock.

[Nyokou]

Originally Posted by Archelos

Of course, what is actually meant by "separation of church and state" is really beyond me; things like the Constitution, the Pledge, and all that stuff was written hundreds of years ago by white religious males. Things have different meanings over time.

The "Under God" part of the Pledge of Allegiance wasn't added until 1954.

[Adamaja456]

they don't want us to pray because anyone with one ounce of superior intellect knows that religion was invented by man for profit and to justify killing. there is no God

thats just my personal opinion. i'm not going to argue with anyone about it and everyone has the right to believe in whatever they want
<3

[pokelda]

Originally Posted by rzr

This is some seriously deep stuff right here. Discuss. Possibly move to CT. I'm going to pass this along to everyone I know.

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGEl

[stretchypanda]

Texas added "under God" as a big old "**** off," when the discussion of removing the phrase from the pledge started up again.

I think we (meaning, the people who make a big deal out of these two words) are concerned about the wrong thing here. The pledge is about loyalty and respect for the U.S, and we take it as a joke. I think if we're going to ask students to stand up every day and recite it, we (meaning my colleagues and I) should model the reverence for that moment for which we are asking. I know I can't require any student to stand up and say the pledge if he doesn't want to, but I can at least place my hand on my heart and say those words and mean it if I want to then complain that other kids don't understand what they're saying or don't take it seriously.

I think the focus should be more on what the rest of the pledge is saying. If you want to remove "under God" because it violates separation of church and state, fine. Can we please move on and get back to teaching our kids what it means to be loyal to their country? Or maybe why we think our country deserves loyalty? It's an empty gesture if we're not asking people to think about what they're doing.

Also, my grandma sent me that ****, too. She doesn't send real emails, just chain mail. And then gets mad at me when I tell her all the reasons those "warnings" she sends out are improbable.

[coraleaterlinda]

if you dont want to say "under God", then don't. people get really mad when talking about messing with the Pledge, but hardly anyone cares about the meaning of it when they actually recite it. also, the poem implies that other religions and religious practices can be taught at school, except for christianity, which i don't think is true. religion is not taught at schools (like showing someone how to become a certain religion) i think its better to keep religion out of the curriculum, except for elective classes and history. teachers shouldn't force prayer during class, but if someone wants to quietly pray or something, i don't have a problem with it. if someone wants to start a religious club or organization, i'm okay with it too as long as they aren't harassing people. in general society though, it seems like most religions except for christianity are acceptable, which i find highly hypocritical. i'm a christian myself, but i respect others beliefs. i have many good friends of different religions. i'm not going to force my values on someone - what good what that do besides making them hate me? i will discuss my beliefs with people, but it is ultimately that person's decision to decide what religion they will have, if they want one. i do feel like if society followed certain biblical priniciples (ten commandments- dont steal, dont covet, treat everyone right, that sort of thing), then it would be better.

[gafandriel]

Ugh, why are all these CT convo's in chitchat?

rawr

I agree with you, buty the large percentage of FFR doesn't believe in organized relegion. Posting your faith here is about as useful as throwing it up for /b/ to take.

[stretchypanda]

No one's really posting their faith, dude. Someone asked a question.

[Nyokou]

Originally Posted by Adamaja456

religion was invented by man for profit and to justify killing. there is no God

Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware of the fact that Native-Americans invented "nonexistent" Gods to swindle their own tribes out of food and valuable items. I was totally under the impression that they sought to better their lives through unity with nature. How could I have been so blind as to see past their actual intentions? Those silly natives.

[OrganisM]

The poem is garbage because it sacrifices content completely for rhythmic structure, which sounds really artificial and annoying.

There is separation of church and state for a reason. Stop whining about it.

I'm all for discussion, but it would be nice if for once it involved something that wasn't pathetically stupid and inflammatory.