The Snake is Still Eating His Tail

So Michael Newdow's still beating his head against the wall.

I say that because I truly don't understand him. Doesn't he have anything else to do?

I think the thing that irritates me about this entire story is the fact that he apparently feels only atheists and secularists can object to saying the Pledge of Allegience. All us stupid Bible-thumpers don't have a problem with it.

Sorry, but tain't so. There are some religious groups who also object to saying the Pledge, on religious grounds. The basic reasoning here is that we've already "pledged our allegiance" to God and his Kingdom, and declaring loyalty to any country would be treasonous. Therefore, we are taught to decline to say the Pledge in school, and respectfully stand by while others say it.

We are also taught that the majority of people will not believe as we do. We don't feel discriminated against because of it; it's just a fact of life. The same applied to Christ at the time he lived. He didn't try to change hearts and minds through the courts; he talked to people, one on one. I know most people I interact with every day will not accept my beliefs, and would probably look at me askance if I explained to them in detail what I believe and why.

Frankly, so what? It isn't any skin off my nose. Their acceptance or lack thereof doesn't matter to me at all, and my beliefs are not threatened because of it.

I would submit this is the attitude atheists should take, rather than trying to force the majority to accept the views of a tiny minority. In religious terms, my beliefs are indeed in the "minority," and also run counter--sometimes glaringly so--to accepted Christian theology. Yet we do not go around trying to sue everyone into accomodating us; rather, we adapt to them. If people want to recite the Pledge, so be it. I won't. But I won't throw a hissy fit because I hear it every morning.

The Snake is Still Eating His Tail

So Michael Newdow's still beating his head against the wall.

I say that because I truly don't understand him. Doesn't he have anything else to do?

I think the thing that irritates me about this entire story is the fact that he apparently feels only atheists and secularists can object to saying the Pledge of Allegience. All us stupid Bible-thumpers don't have a problem with it.

Sorry, but tain't so. There are some religious groups who also object to saying the Pledge, on religious grounds. The basic reasoning here is that we've already "pledged our allegiance" to God and his Kingdom, and declaring loyalty to any country would be treasonous. Therefore, we are taught to decline to say the Pledge in school, and respectfully stand by while others say it.

We are also taught that the majority of people will not believe as we do. We don't feel discriminated against because of it; it's just a fact of life. The same applied to Christ at the time he lived. He didn't try to change hearts and minds through the courts; he talked to people, one on one. I know most people I interact with every day will not accept my beliefs, and would probably look at me askance if I explained to them in detail what I believe and why.

Frankly, so what? It isn't any skin off my nose. Their acceptance or lack thereof doesn't matter to me at all, and my beliefs are not threatened because of it.

I would submit this is the attitude atheists should take, rather than trying to force the majority to accept the views of a tiny minority. In religious terms, my beliefs are indeed in the "minority," and also run counter--sometimes glaringly so--to accepted Christian theology. Yet we do not go around trying to sue everyone into accomodating us; rather, we adapt to them. If people want to recite the Pledge, so be it. I won't. But I won't throw a hissy fit because I hear it every morning.