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8/19
Informal Essays in Response to
Controversial Topics
Sam Swank, Re. "Under
God" Smells Like Red Herring
Every day during first through
third grade, I was forced to face the flag hanging in the room, put my hand over my heart, and recite the pledge of allegiance.
And yes, it included the reference to "under God".
I say, "forced', but nobody
really forced me to do anything, any more than they forced me to eat those miserable little fish patties every Friday. It
was just something we did.
I'm searching my memory and
my psyche to see if I was in any way harmed by those times (the pledge, not the fish) and I can't say that I was. Nor was
I damaged irreparably by going to chapel every morning in the fourth and fifth grade at St. Michael's Episcopal School. In
retrospect, I rather enjoyed it. I prayed, was taught the rudiments of Christianity, the bible stories, the hymns, the whole
deal. I recall the Christmases during those years, with the advent wreaths and carols, were more meaningful to me than any
since.
At no time however, was I
told that Christianity was the only valid religion, or that I was going to burn in the fires of Hell if I didn't accept Jesus
as my "personal" savior, or that homosexuals were evil and responsible largely for the demise of the culture and the sanctity
of marriage.
Would I be less of a person
today had I not said the pledge every day for three years when I was a child? I can't say for sure, but I suspect not.
So whenever I hear
someone talking about the pledge of allegiance, or the ten commandments in some courtroom, or how God has been "removed from
the classroom" it always seems tied to some kind of larger agenda. An agenda of petty morality. Or perhaps they're some kind
of far left, Madeline Murray O'Hare type with too much time on their hands, since clearly they've ostracized all their friends.
There is a war going
on that we started that is supported by the very same people that piously rant about the lack of morals in our country, our
government is controlled by corporate interests that could care less about the best interests of the populace, and there are
a host of other difficulties whose solutions are one hell of a lot more complex and difficult than whether or not the phrase
"under God" is included in the pledge of allegiance.
But I guess that's precisely
the point isn't it?
...
Sam -
Carolyn called this
morning to tell me she had read in a news item, that Jerry Jeff Walker says he’s working on a new song, "The Right has
Kidnapped Jesus, and Will Never Give Him Back."
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Kevin McNevins, Re. Finding
Peace Amid the Insanity of War
Would that I were the least
bit qualified to comment on war - or likely any other life or death issue, or for that matter any other issue of
moral law and the inevitable conflicts of conscience and duty, rights and responsibilities - the old gag is that
war doesn't determine who's right - only who's left.
PBS had a series "Vietnam: A Television
History" produced in in 1983 and now available on DVD. It contained a remarkable segment with a shirt-sleeved
LBJ at a podium outdoors speaking with a soul and sincerity that most would deny he possessed - "To know war is to know
insanity", he slowly spoke, "because ultimately it is simply sending your best young people to kill "their' best young
people." -blessed by his experience in WWII and then seeing the bitterness and hatred of all things Japanese and
German melt away into economic and social brotherhood over a generation of reconciliation as people forget what the fuss
was about and whose blood was shed on what distant beach, rice paddy, fertile farmland, or dusty hill.
Insanity. Irony. The
great failure of civilization. Sad beyond words. Doesn't matter which "side" you are on.
I can only wish that
grieving mothers and fathers, faithful sons and daughters, Presidents and Generals, writers and thinkers, teachers and
filmmakers - and all the rest of us - achieve the peace of mind that comes slowly and painfully with the truth that
we did our best to be honest with ourselves and we did what we truly believed made the world a better place.
God have mercy on us all
and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Tom, I wish you well with
your writing course - if it helps one person produce one sentence of useful dialogue in our quest to understand each other,
you will deserve to be rewarded by the Prince of Peace Himself!
...
Kevin -
What a nice prayer!
As to my writing course,
part of gearing up for that has included reworking Dot Tom Cafe website for student use. It's not a course
requirement, naturally, but if students visit, they can click on some of the God & Universe discussions we've had.
For instance, "Is War (an) Inevitable (part of being human)?"
Another part of gearing up
is to attempt thesis-descriptive titles for y'all's posts.
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Re. "Is War an Invevitable Part of Being Human?"
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