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PLFXpert 0
QuoteTake out the "God" bit and it's just fine. Rather pointless (no-one ever became a patriot by rote recitation of anything every morning), but harmless.
I'd prefer to remind people of the Constitution on a regular basis.
While I tend to agree, I might object to actually removing the word "God". Most people believe in some sort of God--even if that God is Jimmy Hendrix.
To play devil's advocate, it might not be so pointless to repeat. While no-one may have ever became a patriot by "rote recitation", children learn best by repetition. It is embarrassing the basic fundamentals many of adults born in the USA do not know, but I would be surprised if any of them did not know the Pledge of Allegiance as most of us_did_have to repeat it daily.
I entered school in the mid-80s. We always said the pledge and listened to--and were welcomed to sing along with--a song (Neil Diamond's "They're Coming to America", Greenwood's "God Bless the USA", Seals' and Osmond's "Meet me in Montana", Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A., and the usual "America the Beautiful", "Star-Spangled Banner", and "My Country 'Tis of Thee" to name a few.)
I do not think that few minutes each morning was pointless or a waste of time. It was a few minutes to think about my country and be thankful to be an American.
ryoder 1,412
Quote
I entered school in the mid-80s. We always said the pledge and listened to--and were welcomed to sing along with--a song (Neil Diamond's "They're Coming to America", Greenwood's "God Bless the USA", Seals' and Osmond's "Meet me in Montana", Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A., and the usual "America the Beautiful", "Star-Spangled Banner", and "My Country 'Tis of Thee" to name a few.)
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Have you ever read the lyrics to "Born In The U. S. A."???
skybill 19
QuoteWhen I was little we would say the pledge of allegiance in home-room in the morning. Just wondering if people still think it's a good idea.
Hi Speedie,
It's really a sad state of affairs in this country if ya' really just have to ask that question. After Barry gets done with this place and it becomes "Obamaland" what the hell are we going to say?? As for our "current Pledge (the one with "under God" in it), My answer is "Say it" "Everybody Say it" and "SAY IT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Got that??/
III%,
Deli-out
quade 3
The guy that wrote the Pledge, Francis Bellamy, was a Christian Socialist. He wrote it as part of a scheme by The Youth's Companion magazine in an effort to sell flags promoting the 400th anniversary of Columbus "discovering" America.
HERE is how Bellamy intended the flag to be saluted and is how it was done prior to WWII.
The World's Most Boring Skydiver
QuoteOk, and now for some crap you didn't know.
I never new that, thanks for sharing. Definately seems odd, the whole "Hail Hitler" thing and all. But just to clear a few things up and for the sake of a good debate....
I can't help but get the idea that you are insinuating that Bellamy intended the salute to mock the "Hail Hitler" salute.
Quote
It was first demonstrated on October 12, 1892 according to Bellamy's published instructions for the "National School Celebration of Columbus Day":
Although Bellamy was not the first to use the salute, the Romans get that credit, he did not get the idea from the Nazis.
I broke it into paragraphs to make it easier to read
QuoteIn the 1920s, Italian fascists adopted the Roman salute to symbolise their claim to have revitalised Italy on the model of ancient Rome. This was quickly copied by the German Nazis, creating the Nazi salute. The similarity to the bellamy salute led to confusion, especially during World War II.
From 1939 until the attack on Pearl Harbor, detractors of Americans who argued against intervention in World War II produced propaganda using the salute to lessen those Americans' reputations. Among the anti-interventionist Americans was aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh. Supporters of Lindbergh's views would claim that Lindbergh did not support Adolf Hitler, and that pictures of him appearing to do the Nazi salute were actually pictures of him using the Bellamy salute.
In his Pulitzer prize winning biography Lindbergh, author A. Scott Berg explains that interventionist propagandists would photograph Lindbergh and other isolationists using this salute from an angle that left out the American flag, so it would be indistinguishable from the Hitler salute to observers.
source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute
quade 3
QuoteI can't help but get the idea that you are insinuating that Bellamy intended the salute to mock the "Hail Hitler" salute.
Nope. Just pointing out the "weirdness".
I'm not a smart man, but I do know that 1892 comes a few days before 1933.
The World's Most Boring Skydiver
PLFXpert 0
QuoteHave you ever read the lyrics to "Born In The U. S. A."???
I just did. Interesting. I might feel pretty silly if I were a Springsteen fan, had actually ever listened to the song, or were not three years old when it came out.
I agree. My only problem with this is that it turns into a God issue when said in its current form.
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