Anarchy and Loyalty

Checking out the Homeland Security bill in Rhode Island, David Greneir found that "any person who shall teach or advocate anarchy" could go to prison for ten years. "Associating" with an "organization [that] teach[es] and advocate[es] disbelief in or opposition to organized government" is also a criminal act. He has more on the "anarchy" in Cuba.

Writing can clearly be seen as teaching or advocating but can reading be associating? Would I be in trouble for reading his blog? What about linking?

11-43-12 Advocating anarchy or unlawful destruction of property. -- Any person who shall willfully teach or advocate anarchy . . . or opposition to organized government, or any person who shall become a member of or affiliated with any organization teaching and advocating disbelief in or opposition to organized government . . . shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or imprisonment not exceeding ten (10) years, or both.

This was so unconstitutional it was withdrawn but it shows what the GOP governor really believes. This is a replay of the anti-anarchist laws of a hundred years ago.

Readin', writin', 'rithmetic, loyalty oath is related but it is about something that takes place in nearly all schools everyday.

There is no getting around the historical fact that the phrase "under God" was intended as an overt statement of religious belief. It was inserted by Congress in 1954 - fully 62 years after the pledge was written - purposely to proclaim the United States a "believer" nation in sharp contrast to the official atheism of the Soviet Union. An intellectually honest court would say that professing a belief in a deity as part of a daily ritual in our public schools violates the Bill of Rights.

So here's my modest proposal: Stop directing schoolchildren to say the pledge or any rote recitation of national fealty, not because of the roiling "under God" debate, but because loyalty oaths are a backward approach to generating allegiance and are beneath us as a nation. Instead, we should be imbuing young people with a thoroughgoing understanding of the genius of the American experiment, steeping them in a historical and philosophical understanding of our founders' vision, and investing in civics classes that teach the meaning of "liberty and justice for all" and how this country - sometimes fitfully - expanded individual rights and the franchise to all its citizens. That is how you inspire loyalty. Daily oaths and pledges of allegiance are for nations that don't have as much to be proud of as ours.

Apparently, you are not a patriot unless you believe that government employees should lead schoolchildren every morning to profess a belief in God and declare how this nation loves liberty.

el - The original pledge - 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' You did not place your hand on your heart but held it out straight palm down and turned it up toward the flag when you reached that word. At some time children placing a hand over the heart seemed cuter, this may have been around WW2.

I have been told only two countries have pledges of allegiance, the U.S. and the Phillipines. Other countries wonder about us.

Why do we pledge to the flag and not the Constitution? U.S. officials take oaths to the constitution. A flag is pure nationalism while the constitution supports a document with the ideals and rule of law of a country.

Some people do keep silent during the pledge or parts of the pledge. This reminds me of my former UU minister. While he was growing up a member of the Methodist church when they had to recite the Nicene Creed he started keeping silent on parts he wasn't sure about or disagreed with. After a while it was around half and he left.

If you are silent because you have concerns about the phrases the flag, about under God, about liberty (is there liberty when you require people to pledge?) and justice for all (how good are our court systems?) are you unpatriotic or more patriotic?

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are Conservatives." John Stuart Mill