[Vision2020] City Council and the Pledge

[Phil Nisbet]

Joan

Actually, Tom and every person in the service is required to take that oath 
every time they enlist, so repeating it more than once is actually required. 
  And Tom did not note that as a member of any of the major Veterans 
Organizations, we repeat the oath on joining and repeat it on our annual 
renewing of membership as part of the charter we have as Vets with the US 
Congress.

I wrote a fairly good poem at one point about the lack of faith in the real 
portions of marriage vows and failing to actually think about and renew 
them.  I have to think that had I been wiser and repeated them to myself, I 
might just have managed to be a better husband and still married.  And that 
is not about chasing tail, but about forgetting the real parts of those vows 
that were about supporting through thick and thin and not being too tied up 
in oneself alone.

Many people proclaim that they have allegiance to the United States, but 
that includes people like David Duke and a host of people who have no desire 
to see the Constitution or the Bill of Rights upheld.  Many people give 
tribute to the flag, but refuse to stand up for the principles that the flag 
itself represents.  The Pledge at least forces some to look at what being an 
American is really about.  Perhaps it should include more of what you have 
in the Pledge you designed for yourself and I for one would be glad if the 
council started its meetings with just such a pledge.

Finally, the founders were concerned that we include G-d for a reason 
completely different than seems to be bandied about.  If our rights are 
accrued to us by men, then the actions of men are sufficient to remove those 
rights from us.  Jefferson made sure that he included "and endowed by their 
creator with inalienable rights" because it took the granting of rights away 
from any group of men and said that our freedoms were from a higher power.  
The generic G-d in the Pledge is really all about that and was placed in the 
Pledge by Dwight D Eisenhower close to 50 years after the pledge was first 
introduced.

If there is no higher power, than men have the right to tell us what our 
rights are.  That means that human beings who happen to come to power have 
the right to distribute rights to the people who are in the minority.  So to 
me I would have to say that we would have to invent G-d if he does not 
exist, because only the presence of a higher power demands that feeble men 
not grab and assert control over what our liberties should be.

The G-d mentioned then is not anybody's G-d, it is the higher power that 
Jefferson refered to as "their creator", which in its very construction 
tells you he meant that not to be one single religions G-d, but all the 
G-d's that men worship.

The same goes for the generic In G-d We Trust which is a statement that we 
do not put our trust in men to uphold our rights. but rather place our trust 
in which ever G-d we worship and keep our powder dry to defend our rights.

Phil Nisbet



>From: Joan Opyr <joanopyr at earthlink.net>
>To: "John Dickinson" <johnd at moscow.com>
>CC: aaronament at moscow.com, Vision2020 Moscow <vision2020 at moscow.com>,       
>  Nancy Chaney <nchaney at moscow.com>, blambert at ci.moscow.id.us,        
>jweber at ci.moscow.id.us, Linda Pall <lpall at moscow.com>,        
>bstout at ci.moscow.id.us
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] City Council and the Pledge
>Date: Sun, 22 Jan 2006 18:20:05 -0800
>
>On 21 Jan 2006, at 21:11, John Dickinson wrote:
>
>>Hi again,
>>
>>Having mentioned that the pledge of allegiance became a part of every
>>council meeting only after 9/11, I thought it would be clear that we no
>>longer needed to have the pledge at each council meeting - just as we have
>>stopped many of the patriotic activities that were daily common activities
>>then. I think we were all helped in that tragic time by the sight of flags
>>flying at almost every house in the country. As a nation, we were united 
>>in
>>the best of what this country stands for, our essence was being attacked. 
>>We
>>needed to tell everyone we knew that we are good people with high ideals 
>>and
>>that we did not deserve to have our essence torn from us.
>
>Dear John and other Visionaries:
>
>I take the Gary Cooper approach to the Pledge of Allegiance, i.e., I said 
>it; I meant it; I'll let you know if anything changes.
>
>Tom's recitation of the oath of military service seems an especially apt 
>parallel to me.  The Pledge of Allegiance is an oath, a vow, and I fear 
>that mindless and rote recitation only cheapens it.  Melynda and I took our 
>wedding vows on September 14, 1996.  By that time, we had already been 
>together for more than four years, but in 1996, we stood together in the 
>UCC Congregationalist Church in Pullman and promised before God, before the 
>Rev. Dr. Kristine Zakarison, and before our assembled friends and family to 
>love, honor, and be faithful to one another 'til death do we part.  Nine 
>years and four months later, I remember the exact words of my vows, and I 
>honor them.  I have never broken them.  I don't need to look them up or 
>repeat them to myself, Melynda, or anyone else to keep me from going out on 
>the razz, hustling up the babes.
>
>I am a citizen of the United States.  I have not in the past nor will I in 
>the future renounce my citizenship or pledge allegiance to a foreign 
>country.  A lot of people say things they don't mean.  They take oaths of 
>office and then break them.  They promise to support and defend the 
>Constitution and then, behind closed doors, under the cloak of national 
>security, they tear the beating heart right out of that living document and 
>stomp all over it.  It's in actions, not words, that we must look for 
>honesty, integrity, and loyalty.  Richard Nixon took the Oath of Office.  
>Twice.
>
>I wrote my own wedding vows, and I've written my own pledge of allegiance 
>as well, one that has real meaning for me.  Here it is:
>
>"I pledge allegiance to the democratic republic of the United States of 
>America, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  I 
>promise to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and to 
>honor the Bill of Rights, not only in word but also in deed."
>
>You'll note that I don't pledge allegiance to a flag.  I prefer to pledge 
>my allegiance directly to the democratic republic for which that flag 
>stands.  I also don't mention God.  Why?  Because I know what I mean by 
>God, but I don't know what others mean.  I refuse to put myself (or my 
>country) under the God of Jerry Falwell or Lou Sheldon.  That would violate 
>the Constitution I've sworn to uphold and defend, and it would dishonor the 
>Bill of Rights.  I may call upon God to help me honor my vow, but if and 
>when I do, it'll be none of anyone's business.
>
>Here's what I'm wondering: is the aforementioned enough to get me on the 
>NSA's no-warrant eavesdropping list?  I am perfectly serious, and yet I am 
>also flipping Dick Cheney the cyber-bird.  Come and get me, Dicky Ticker!
>
>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
>www.joanopyr.com
>
>
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