The Flag (OT)

[Clyde Hollinger]

Friends,

In my opinion referring to the addition of the words "under God" in the pledge
of allegiance cannot rightly be called a result of the "craze of 'un-American
activities' of the 50's."  If so, what do we do with these?

>From the Declaration of Independence:

... the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God...

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights....

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America,... appealing
to the Supreme Judge of the world....

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection
of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes
and our sacred Honor.

You may also be interested in these quotes from the Constitution:

Article VI,  ... no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to
any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Article VII, ... in the year of our Lord...

The first Amendment states:  "Congress shall make no law respecting the
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."  [We
surely aren't adhering to the latter clause, are we?]

Now a question I don't know the answer to:

The Senate chaplain Dr. Ogilvie included the following in his prayer in the
Senate on 12/13/1995:  "Our motto is 'In God we trust'; help us really to trust
you in the specific decisions we must make today" (from the Congressional
Record).  Is that really our national motto?  When was it chosen?  I know of
course that it is on most or all of our currency and coins.  I found it on a
coin minted in 1906.  "Craze of the 50's"?  Some of us would like to believe
that, but it doesn't appear to be the way it is (or was).

By the way, Ric, if you want to believe in no God, I certainly think you should
have that choice.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger

> >Its a pity that  from the craze of "un-American activities" of the
> >50's  a particular religion was allowed to change the words of the
> >Pledge of Allegiance.