To Pledge Or Not To Pledge

“Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people; and not for profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.” — John Adams

In another example of political correctness or just plain rebellion against the values of our founding fathers the city council of Eugene Oregon, after much contentious debate, has decided to say the Pledge of Allegiance prior of the start of a council meeting four time a year rather than before every meeting.

Fox News reports that a compromise on Pledge of Allegiance in Oregon Town has some seeing red:

“An Oregon town's City Council voted down a proposal to say the Pledge of Allegiance before every council meeting, but later passed a compromise that seemed to make no one happy.

The approved measure allows the pledge to be recited at just four Eugene City Council meetings a year, those closest to the Fourth of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Flag Day.

It was supposed to be simple, but Councilman Mike Clark soon found out when you’re dealing with God and country, nothing in Eugene is easy.

Clark says all he wanted to do was unite the council and show his more conservative constituents that in this city where diversity is celebrated, their more traditional values also are important.

“It’s a little ironic to see those who have championed the idea of tolerance be less tolerant on this question,” Clark Said. Mayor Kitty Piercy called the Pledge of Allegiance divisive. “If there’s one thing the flag stands for,” Piercy says, “it’s that people don’t have to be compelled to say the Pledge of Allegiance or anything else.”

Under Clark’s proposal, saying the pledge would be voluntary not only for the public at the meetings, but the council members themselves.

Councilman George Brown voted against the compromise, saying the Pledge of Allegiance had no place at City Hall. “People can say it in their front yard or backyard,” Brown says. “It really doesn’t help move the city business forward. It does not unite us.”

Another pledge opponent, Councilwoman Betty Taylor compared saying the Pledge of Allegiance to reading from "The Communist Manifesto."

The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, in 1892. It quickly became part of the American fabric. School children said it each day with their hand placed over their hearts. The original pledge did not have the words "under God."

At the request of the Knights of Columbus and other groups, Congress added one nation "under God" in 1954.

A California atheist challenged the pledge, arguing it amounted to the U.S. government establishing a religion in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately ruled 2-1 the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the Establishment Clause.

More recently, NBC found itself in a pledge controversy during this year’s U.S. Open golf coverage. The network produced a montage with kids saying the Pledge of Allegiance while showing pictures of golf highlights.

But when viewers noticed the words "under God" were edited out, many complained. Three hours later, NBC made an on-air apology saying it had "forgotten" to put the whole pledge in.

Jordan Sekulow, director of policy and international operations for the American Center for Law and Justice, sees the Eugene case as political correctness trumping American values.

“It vindicates all of us who say our Judeo-Christian heritage is under attack,” Sekulow says, “sometimes it’s in the courts, sometimes it’s elected officials and sometimes it’s the media.”

In Eugene, the opposition was less about religion than anti-establishment.

Resident Anita Sullivan summed up a common viewpoint: “So you say I pledge allegiance and right there I don’t care for that language,” Sullivan says. “It sort of means loyalty to your country; well, I feel loyalty to the entire world.”

Even after the compromise proposal passed and the council began its regular meeting Monday night, the pledge was still too hot to handle.

A motion to say the Pledge of Allegiance was shot down even though it would be the closest meeting to July Fourth. Those voting against the measure said it was just too soon. They’ll wait until the next meeting.”

The comment that ticked me off the most was from Anita Sullivan when she said, “It sort of means loyalty to your country; well, I feel loyalty to the entire world.” Loyalty to the world, how arrogant and ignorant. Why not loyalty to Mars and Venus while she is at it? It was not men and women from the “world” that died for her freedom!

I always suspected of Oregon as being a states where most of the population was a little bit of their rocker. Perhaps it is because they get so little sunshine. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Portland, Oregon receives a mere 48% of available sunshine each year. This no doubt causes depression and a cloudiness of thought in the residents.

My wife plays bingo every Tuesday night at the local church with a group of seniors and before the beginning of the bingo they enthusiastically recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Who knows what political party or religion these seniors belong to? They do, however, know and believe in the nation that has provided them with the freedom they have lived under for so many years.

It seems that there is a move in the nation, especially along the coasts, to disregard all this nation has stood for and the freedom and prosperity it has allowed these selfish, self-centered elites to live under.

A city council meeting is not a bingo game or a sporting event. It is a meeting of elected officials who have sworn to protect and defend this nation. Why is such a simple pledge to the United States, a pledge that every new naturalized citizen takes, be so abhorrent to these conceited and elite elected officials sworn to represent the voters of their community?