One nation, Underdog.

I've been getting people forwarding their "causes" to me, and it really hits home to me, something my younger brother said the last time I saw him; we were talking about reunions, because I had just gotten word that my 30th high school reunion was coming up on July 30 or some such odd date, and I was talking about wanting to go but really NOT wanting to go. He said, "it's like you want to go, but you realize that you don't like those people, and you're not sure you liked them even when you liked them."

That's how I feel about people sending me "causes", with the present company being excepted from the rant.

For example, I got one today, from a guy I went to college with, and he was a good fellow in college, and he sends me a "cause" that states, "vote to keep 'Under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance." Boy, do I hate this one. First of all, we have completely forgotten, over the passage of time, what the Pledge of Allegiance is all about in this country, even to the point that we've taken all the meaning out of it through rote memorization...

I actually used this in an acting class. We say it this way:
I pledge Allegiance
To the Flag
Of the United States of America.
And to the Republic
For which is stands
One nation
Under God
Indivisible
With liberty and justice for all.

What the hell does that mean? Now, put it together with the proper punctuation, and you have the meaning behind the message:

I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; One nation, under God, indivisible, with Liberty and justice for all.

Now, you can see there that 'under God' just doesn't seem to fit. If you take it out (it was added in 1956, by the way), it becomes:

One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

That makes sense. The country is indivisible. We tried dividing it once, it didn't work out. But some right-wing faction of the Christian Coalition seemed to think that we needed to remind everybody that God was on our side, and the put 'under God' in a very poor place. It would fit better, in my opinion, as:

Under God, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That makes it sound like we're under God, and the nation is indivisible, and not wondering whether the God we're under is indivisible.....

Needless to say, I don't think there should be God in courtrooms, but it was placed there years ago when people actually feared the wrath of God. Nowadays, people think God looks like Morgan Freeman. And the previous generation thinks God looks like George Burns.

Sometimes, I think it's hard to see God, because he has looked upon all of the things the human race has done in his name, and his face is obscured by the cosmic toilet bowl he's vomiting into. But that's just my secular opinion....and we all know that I've been on the path of good intentions most of my life....and we all know where THAT leads, right?