One Nation, Under No Obligation to Think Logically
If you live in the American Empire, you have almost certainly heard about the decision made by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the Pledge of Allegiance may not be recited in government schools. I am tired of being bombarded with moronic opinions on this subject. I am a devout Christian, and I completely agree with this court’s decision. I know this because I read and made a conscious effort to comprehend the decision. Rant ahead.
To paraphrase a line spoken by Jim Garrison in Oliver Stone’s JFK, I am sad to be an American today. Of course, this comes as little surprise to those of you who know me; you know quite well that it’s rare for me to display any sort of nationalism. I am disgusted by our Congress. I am revolted by the head of our Executive Branch. Most importantly, I am saddened at the toll that patriotism has wrecked on our society.
Don’t understand why I’m writing with such venom? Here are some quotes from the past twenty-hours from some of the morons whose salaries our tax dollars are paying.
Senate President Robert Byrd (elected by the fine people of West “By God” Virginia) offered a brilliant display of his superior intellect by reverting to name-calling, referring to Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, the judge who wrote the well-worded and quite correct decision, as an “atheist lawyer”.
Senator John Warner, who the voters of Virgina entrusted as their representative, has decided that he wishes to waste his time that could be better spent on real issues that impact our freedoms supporting a half-cocked Constitutional amendment that would reverse the decision of the court and essentially set up Christianity as a state religion. In his own words, “Let us not wait for the Supreme Court to act on this. Why don’t we go ahead and formulate this amendment, put it together, have it in place, presumably with all 100 United States senators?” In other words, why don’t we completely disregard the process of government set up by the founding fathers of the country—who are obviously wiser and more intelligent than these imbeciles—and do things our own way.
Tom Daschle shows how much respect he has for the Judicial Branch of our government with this amazingly well thought-out statement(1): “I think we need to send a clear message that the Congress disagrees, the Congress is going to intervene…”
Of course, some of you are just sitting there agreeing with this nonsense. This fits in with your world view. Your world view is incorrect. I understand that it is not politically correct for me to tell you that, but it is nonetheless the truth. I assure you that the sooner you learn the truth, the more well-adjusted you will be. Please review the first ammendment to the Constitution of the United States. I’m sorry to report that the statements of our leaders lead me to believe that they are, in fact, wishing to make laws “respecting an establishment of religion”.
You may be wondering how and why a self-proclaimed Christian would agree (in so rude a manner no less) with the decision. I believe that it is in the best interest of everyone that the government stays out of religious matters. In my experience, everything that the government is involved in is or will become a dismal failure. Our government-run public schools are absolutely a joke now. They are more concerned with teaching our kids to blindly support the government than they are with teaching our children essential critical thinking skills and valuable knowledge on subjects like arithmetic and history. How many of you under the age of thirty honestly believe that you’ll be receiving any Social Security benefits when it comes time for you to retire?
In most religions, belief is a matter of faith. People cannot be forced to accept your religion. As a Christian and a preacher’s son, I can tell you with all certainty that Jesus of Nazareth never forced anyone to convert. This is because Jesus understood that belief and faith comes from within—never from outside force. I believe very strongly in the freedom of the individual to decide his(2) own path. Choices are only meaningful when they are not enforced by laws and gun barrels.
If you are someone who disagrees with the decision of the court, please imagine for a moment what today would be like if the pledge stated that our nation was “under Allah” rather than “under God”. How would you feel if your elected representatives were talking about putting forth an ammendment to the Constitution that forced your children to listen to a daily pledge affirming that their fellow classmates served a nation founded under Allah. Imagine the President stating that all the freedoms that we have are given through Allah. Stop for a moment and consider what it would feel like to be in a situation where you were in the minority. If you are a Christian, then please view all this through Jesus’ teaching that we should “treat people the same way you want them to treat you…”(3)
More importantly, ladies and Gentlemen, please realize that this is nothing more than a distraction. So unfortunately is this “War on Terror”. The government is trying to get us all stirred up about something so that we pay less attention to what they’re actively seeking to accomplish. Since the attacks on September 11th of 2001, we have lost a steady stream of our rights. Remember how the government couldn’t hold you indefinitely without bringing you before a grand jury of your peers? The “Dirty Bomber”(4) incident has certainly proved that we don’t follow those rules anymore. Remember how Congress used to formally declare war as a balance to presidential power? We can’t have that, now can we? This is all about the acquisition of power, folks.
I’m sad to report that I’m part of the problem. We all are. Somewhere along the way, we stopped paying attention to the government. In the American system of government, it is our responsibility to keep an eye on the leaders that we elected so that we can intelligently decide whether or not to re-elect them when their term of service is over. We certainly can’t rely on the press to be the watchdogs anymore. The professional media are in control of large corporations just like our elected leaders. They might as well all be wearing company logos on their suit jackets like some sort of skateboard or stock car.
Nationalism and patriotism have made us put on blinders. In the patriotic fervor that I have been in the middle of since September 11, 2001, people have stopped thinking critically. This decision about the Pledge of Allegiance only garnered so much press attention because anything to do with blatant Americanism and patriotic pride is such a hot button issue right now. We’re too busy putting bumper stickers and American flags on our cars to realize that the patriotic indignation surrounding this decision and the whole non-declared War on Terrorism are nothing more than a means to power for politicians that are playing the same game that our government has been playing since FDR got us involved in World War 2.
A large portion of our economy is fueled by defense spending. The US military almost single-handedly supports an entire industry. When our economy starts to sag at all, you can count on a war or conflict not being far away. FDR used World War 2 to eliminate the last vestiges of the Depression. LBJ turned Vietnam into a conflict with no forseeable end that would just continue to line the pockets of those in charge of the military industrial complex. The so-called Cold War was an economic boon for both the Americans and the Soviets. With the end of the Cold War, we struggled to find a new “threat” that we could use to justify defense spending. Bush-v1.0 used Sadam Hussein to ensure that oil prices would remain high enough to keep himself and his family wealthy and elite. Clinton setup this whole war on terrorism just in time to distract the American people from the fact that he lied under oath regarding what Monica Lewinsky did to his penis. Bush-v2.0 is just continuing the grand tradition. America is seeking to always be in conflict with some random body or ideal. That way, we always increase defense spending. That way, we are ever so willing to give up our rights and freedoms.
They have us right where they want us, folks. They are using patriotism to control you. They are abusing your desire to be safe in order to take away your freedom. They are lulling you into apathy so that you don’t vote or participate in the operation of the government which claims to be of you, for you, and by you. They are distracting you with minutia so that they can accomplish their goals without your interference.
If you don’t like this decision on the Pledge of Allegiance, take control of your own life. Take your children out of government schools and put them into private schools which espouse your world view(5). Put them in a school where they recite government propaganda every day if that’s your desire. Do what you wish. You have the freedom to do so. Please respect the fact that people have the freedom to disagree with you though. Don’t force children to recite a pledge that they or their parents do not agree with.
Footnotes
- This is an example of sarcasm.
- My use of the male pronoun in no way indicates that I espouse any form of gender bias. I use the male pronoun because it is technically correct to do so.
- Matthew 7:12 (NASB).
- This title always strikes me as some sort of odd pornography reference. “Oh yeah, baby, I’ll show you why they call me ‘The Dirty Bomber’…”
- They’ll almost certainly get a better education that way.