Vanity: The Pledge of Allegiance is Unconstitutional - If That Doesn't Convince You What Will?

June 26, 2002 | Jim Robinson

[Jim Robinson]

This is your wake-up call

My friends, I've been taking a lot of flak lately because of my stand on President Bush and the Republicans. Well, my thinking is that the coming elections are so critical that the very continuation of America as we know it may be at stake.

All of our institutions are controlled by liberals. Both houses of Congress are awash in liberals and socialists and moderates and very few conservatives. The Courts are infested with liberal activist judges. Our media and entertainment industries are overrun by liberals. Our universities are overrun by liberals. Our public education systems are overrun by liberals. The liberals control public opinion through their controlled nightly news programs and their daily liberal newspapers. My God, the whole damn country is run by hordes of mushy headed liberals and socialists in biblical proportions! And now they even have the audacity to openly attack patriotism and even God Almighty Himself!

A United States Federal Appeals Court in California has declared the

Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional! And this simply because it contains the phrase, "Under God." I'm speechless! I just sit here and shake my head. Don't even know what to say.

Wake up America! We've been saying that for years. The far right-wingers have been shouting it for decades. Wake up America! Wake up America, the socialists are coming!

And now it's here. The Republic is in grave danger. The liberal activist judiciary has tested the waters. If America does not wake up and not only say no, but hell no to this abomination, then what will the emboldened court take next? Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna sit around on my butt doing nothing while we find out.

Call to action: Get off your Butts! Call or write your reps! Voice your opinion. Demand that they do something about this. Tell them that America will not allow this outrage to stand! Demand of your Senators that they move President Bush's judiciary appointments through the Senate! The Democrat controlled Senate is holding up his appointments, hoping to delay as many as they possibly can until Bush appoints judges more to their liking, or possibly even until they can get Gore or Hillary elected in 2004. God forbid!

And, I'm convinced more than ever, that we must have a complete turnover of the judiciary in the next decade. This is critical. The liberal activist judiciary is getting more and more aggressive. If we do not get some conservative judges in there pretty soon, this game is going to be over.

How do we get conservative judges? Well, I can guarantee you that we will not get them as long as the Senate is controlled by Democrats. We must have a Republican President to appoint conservative judges and we must have a Republican majority so they will be moved through the Senate. This is one of the primary reasons why I want to push so hard to help elect Republicans to the Congress and especially to the Senate. And this is why I want to push so hard to help re-elect President Bush in 2004.

Wake up America! And wake up right-wingers! Vote out the Democrats. Vote in a huge Republican majority so we can retake America from the liberals!

We cannot afford a loss or even a squeaker in the next couple of elections. We must have Reaganesque landslides! Send them to Washington with a mandate from the American people! We want a complete turnover and makeover of the judiciary and all of the government. Give is back our Liberty!

This is not the time for sending a negative message. It does us no good for conservatives to sit on their hands or to vote third party. The only message that sends is to say you don't care if we have wall-to-wall liberals forever. The Democrats will love you. The liberal activist judiciary will love you.

The message you should send is one by pen and ink, or by phone calls and personal meetings. Send a message now to your congressmen and to the Republican Party. Now is the time to send the message. Tell them what we want them to run on and what we want them to do when they get in there. Send them a positive message filled with patriotism and love for God and Country. Tell them that we are fed up with the liberals and we want our country back and we want our rights back. Tell your relatives and your friends and neighbors. Tell them to write and call and visit. And tell them to vote for the Republican in their districts. We must do this if we want it back. We cannot afford to fail.

God bless you all and thank you for bearing with me. I love my country and I love my freedom more than life itself. I don't care what anyone says about me, or what labels they pin on me. From this day forward I am a Bush-bot and proud of it! I am going to help turn this thing around or I'm going down in flames trying.

FReegards,

Jim Robinson

[Chairman_December_19th_Society]

The question is one of intent - does a state-mandated, state-run institution requiring a pledge which includes the phrase 'under God' constitute a violation of the principle expressed by the phrase 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.' IOW, does it respect an establishment of religion, and, if it does, does it fall under the jurisdiction of that phrase?

Apparently you are not familiar with the Barnette decision of the Supreme Court in 1943.

[BobFromNJ]

Right you are!



BobfromNJ

[Amelia]

Do you really believe children are sophisticated enough to discern and accept the nuances between 'god', 'great spirit', 'allah', 'jehovah', 'buddha', etc., etc., etc.?

I think children would assume that "God" was their god of choice. You don't?

[Ravenstar]

You are way off base. First you need an English lesson because it is very on point. The First Major Clause of the First Amendment states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

There are two minor clauses here and as an English teacher will tell you cannot use a minor clause on its own because it will change the intended meaning.

Let's keep the argument clear. You must consider the whole major clause or you are taking it out of context. The Courts have done this repeatedly and are therefore Unconstitutional in their rulings. The Judiciary does not have the right to make law only the Congress and state legislatures do. The ninth circuit is out of line because this case is outside their jurisdiction. The 10th Amendment states that those powers not specifically granted to the federal government are reserved to the states and to the PEOPLE! The ruling is out of line because they are trying to rule on a Community Practice which is outside their scope per the 10th Amendment

Ravenstar

[f.Christian]

Should title it...The Anatomy of Good/America vs. Tyranny/evil-lies!

[Amelia]

How will that happen if they see minority beliefs/rights being trumped/trampled by the majority? Such a thing is completely contrary to Constitutional ideals.

Now who has a problem with reading comprehension? I already addressed that. Just because things are not perfect does not mean we shouldn't strive for the ideal.

...so long as it is done slowly, and with the illusion that I might eventually, someday, have some say in whether it ever stops'? Ya mean, that kind of 'doing nothing'?

I'd like to see pretty much everything the government has done over the last 100 years be reversed (I don't have a problem with giving full citizenship rights to blacks and women, but other than that....)

Problem is, there aren't enough people who agree for a candidate that believes that to win. Sad, but true.

So yes, if my choices are between getting socialism quickly and getting it slowly I'll choose slowly - because right now, those are the choices.

You might keep in mind that if you're traveling south at 80 mph, you can't get to north at 80 mph without slowing down first.

[cva66snipe]

Folks, this is what we will see if Democrats stay in office.

No the fall of America is what we will see if socialist remain in office. To say that only the DEMs has socialist in it's ranks is foolish and will not address the issues nor will it address the problem. The problem and the solution is in post #138. Instead of 33 constitutionalist in the senate we have 33 socialist and they are in both parties. These 33 or less have inflicted the woes of this nation. The rest either oppose or follow their lead. A socialist is a socialist no matter who's party they claim. When we the sheeple start showing them the door the GOP will once again be a United Party. Keeping them on for committee seats is self defeating. THEY WILL STILL PUSH THEIR SOCIALIST AGENDA ABOVE ALL ELSE! FIRE THEM. ThEY ARE NOT OUR FRIENDS IN THIS FIGHT THEY WORK FOR THE OTHER SIDE.

If the GOP will not repect it's own principles neither will the DEMS respect the GOP as an adversary. Stop being enablers for socialist. Stop giving the GOP permission to take them into the party.

[rustbucket]

Nothing in previous law REQUIRED any child to say the pledge. YOU however are not satisfied with that. YOU want to take a voluntary pledge to a mandated prohibition based on a devout Atheist’s religious beliefs. That is an establishment of state religion. That is a direct violation of the Constitution.

Let's see if I can follow your logic. If monotheistic religion is not mentioned in the pledge, it is establishment of religion? My head hurts.

[tpaine]

So yes, if my choices are between getting socialism quickly and getting it slowly I'll choose slowly - because right now, those are the choices.


You might keep in mind that if you're traveling south at 80 mph, you can't get to north at 80 mph without slowing down first.
466 - Amelia

---

Good grief, choosing 'slow socialism', -- now theres a concept.

And try an old pilots trick on the other problem, Amelia.
--- You do a 80 MPH 'U' turn. - It works.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

"Where have I ever said I was against voluntary recitation?"

THEN WHY ARE YOU SITTING HERE COMPLAINING?

The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled on forced recitation of the Pledge in public schools, it is now purely voluntary.

[MEGoody]

"And before we continue this little charade, can you assure me personally that you yourself would not be offended were someone in your presence to substitute the word 'allah' in the Pledge"

So let 'em. Or let 'em just skip the words 'under God' or let 'em sit while everyone else says the pledge. Good grief! There are way too many people in this country desparately seeking a reason to be offended so they have a reason to whine.

[tpaine]

-- I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States Of America, and to the Constitutional Republics for which it stands.
One nation, one principle; - Life, Liberty, and Justice for all.

---

Could we all agree on a pledge like this one?

[FreedominJesusChrist]

"who would take up arms tomorrow were the official phrase 'under Allah'...now, wouldn't they?"

We aren't discussing one's speculation on human behavior here. The majority of us here are asking for your Constitutional basis as to why you believe that the Pledge should not be said in schools at all, despite the fact that it does not establish a state religion.

By the way, when you quote the 1st Amendment, please include the Free Exercise Clause.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

It begins, "I pledge alligence to the flag...", not the way you had it.

Plus, why do spiritual incinuations have to shock a nation so much? Why is there so much phobia in this country over the issue of religion? It is quite ridiculous.

[MEGoody]

"Could we all agree on a pledge like this one?"

Probably not. Someone would find some reason to be offended by it. There's nothing wrong with the current pledge except for those who are searching desparately for a reason to be offended.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Ditto on that one. Why fix it? It isn't broken, cliche' of course, but true.

[rustbucket]

As a test, my son declined to participate one day. It became an on-going battle with the teacher, and the school administration, till the end of the school year (and his graduation). There was no disruption, no belligerence, no active dissension by my son, simply a decision to not go along with an empty ritual (which is the way it is treated by most of the other students).

The teacher claimed it was a disruption to the other students, sent him to the office, the principal tried to bully/coerce him to participate (my son said, 'You really don't want to talk to my dad about this.'), finally sent him back to class with the agreement that he would stand quietly --- that wasn't enough for the teacher, who still waxed apoplectic every morning, still manufactured disciplinary crises requiring administrative intervention.

The same sort of thing happened to me, though I was nowhere near as brave as your son. I was made to read the Bible out loud before the class. The well-meaning teacher knew I wasn't Christian, but the bulk of the students didn't. At this age (10th grade), I felt a great deal of peer pressure to conform and be one of the group, so I read the Bible.

No one that young should be put in the position of chosing whether to conform or be ostracized. I understand what the California guy's daughter is going through. Now days, I would simply refuse the teacher's instruction, and if she persisted I would take her to court. I wish I had done that when I was younger.

There were other teachers at my school who weren't so nice or well meaning about my lack of religion as the teacher who had me read the Bible. They sound like the teacher you mentioned.

[ContraryMary]

I'm with you!

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Question: Did you attend a public or a private school?

[RebelDawg]

Thank you Jim!

I know that I have been very critical of President Bush in the past but this ruling handed down by the 9th circuit court (as well as some incitefull posts by those who disagreed with me) has brought me back to the light!

Now don't expect me to go agreeing with every little thing that the President does. I still disagree with his immigration policies for one, but from now on you can count me in!

Thanks and God Bless the U.S.!