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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>…But the tendency of the Pledge is to emphasize that dimension <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>of our existence to the exclusion of all else.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>-- Princess Sushitushi<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Me:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>This is what I find less than compelling about your argument: “tendency,”
and “emphasize.” That’s a “slippery slope”
argument to the power of two, in so far as you want to say that the pledge “is
idolatrous.” Do you have any historical hermeneutics regarding what
“I pledge allegiance too” originally meant? I would sincerely find
that interesting. A related question: Would it be wrong to pledge
allegiance in anyway to a U.S. court and the decision of the Judge, since there
is a tendency to emphasize allegiance to our judicial system that might sort of
look idolatrous to a finicky fundamentalist? Recall the problems caused
by a linguistically demarcated hierarchy of authority in the movie A Few Good
Men. You are to fear and respect the State, an authority establish by
God, a minister of God to punish evil and encourage those who do good (Rom 13).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Thanks<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Michael Metzler <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Don’t forget to follow the national scandal: <a
href="http://www.poohsthink.com/">www.poohsthink.com</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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