The 9th Circuit Court ruling that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag is unconstitutional in public schools because of the phrase "under God" has much of our nation debating "What does it mean to be an American?"
Oh great ˜ an identity crisis.
As if the upcoming election year isn't enough to keep our benevolent leaders and talking-head television personalities from inviting themselves into our living room with messages of patriotism and honor.
Well, no amount of flag waving, red-white-and-blue wearing, patriotic song and dancing will make you any more American than Michael Newdow, the father of a second grader who challenged the constitutionality of the words "under God" in the Pledge and its required recitation in public schools.
The First Amendment, which makes a clear separation of church and state, is not so much to protect the church from the state, but rather the state from the church. It is in the halls of Congress that we shall find the American sanctuary, meant to protect the people through the laws that bind us.
It's those punks on the other end of the line threatening the Newdow family, especially the little girl who instantly became victim of self-proclaimed judges of un-American activities, who should be questioning what it means to be a citizen.
(Does the name Joseph McCarthy ring a bell?)
And what about our leaders on Capitol Hill? Don't they have anything better to do than recite the Pledge the day after the ruling, putting a special emphasis on the words "under God." It was a little overboard when later in the day Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the ruling to sooth their oversized bruised egos.
(Aren't we fighting a War on Terrorism?)
Then there is President Bush. He called the ruling "out of step with the traditions and history of America." Surely, Mr. President, you can come up with a better defense. Slavery is also an unforgettable part of our nation's history, and it wasn't until 1920 that women could vote.
Of course Illinois also would throw up its hands when the patriotic wave rolled around. Only days after the ruling, Gov. George Ryan signed legislation extending the required recitation of the Pledge in grade schools to high schools as well.
It was an act of Congress in 1954 that inserted the words "under God" into the Pledge and, according to the court, when President Eisenhower signed the legislation he declared: "Millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty."
America is a country made from people of all types of religious stripes and those with no religious stripe at all. The phrase "under God" serves no place in our public schools or in the Pledge to our country.
If Congress won't take out the phrase "under God," taking the Pledge from the daily classroom ritual will not make our children any less patriotic at their school‚s end.
Have you ever listened to a crowd of hyper grade school children reciting the Pledge before morning recess? If you have not, or the years have erased the memory of your own grammar school days, perhaps this will serve as a reminder of that glorified sound of patriotism.
It goes something like this:
IpledgetheallegiancetotheflagoftheUnitedStatesofAmericanandtotheRepublic forwhichitstands (collective gasp for air); onenationunderGod,indivisidablewithliberty a-n-d justiceforall.
Memorization at best.
If you ask the students or even the parents who so strongly condemn the courts decision what the Republic stands for could they answer? Do they know what it means to have justice for all?
Nothing in the mumbling of the Pledge teaches children to be American. It doesn't teach them to question government policy and laws, to express their views, no matter how unpopular and learn to understand those who do not share their beliefs, even if that means they leave the room when the rest of the class says the Pledge.
It's a shame that we have reduced the teaching of democracy or what it means to be American to the day-to-day drudgery of the Pledge. Too bad we have replaced the teaching of American values ˜ diversity, equality, critical thinking, and acceptance ˜ to No.2 pencils and institutionalized bubble sheets.
Without democratic knowledge, the Pledge is feckless chatter, with or without the "under God" phrase. Most of us who gathered before the flag, hand over heart, every day of grammar school, still don't perform our most basic of civic duties: voting.
Let's get over our identity crisis and get to the heart of what it means to be an American.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
