California desecrates Pledge of Allegiance again
Exclusive: Chuck Norris blasts unpatriotic twits who object to our national symbol
When I was growing up from Oklahoma to California, you could count on every student in every school standing up every morning and together reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
It’s so simple and powerful – profoundly poetic and proudly patriotic. How could anyone be against it? Yet, more and more are, especially in the coastal states, and particularly true in California.
Why is the Golden State, where I have so many cherished memories with friends, family, films and martial arts, always at the heart of so much lame and liberal mainstream news?
CNN reported how, two decades ago in 2000, atheist attorney Michael Newdow filed a lawsuit against Elk Grove Unified School District in California because academic officials were forcing students to listen to the words “under God” even if they were not reciting them, and so violating the First Amendment.
Five years later, in 2005, Newdow and several parents in the Sacramento, California, area filed a new lawsuit, seeking to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 2013, the San Francisco Chronicle article,
“Many schools skip Pledge of Allegiance,” reported:
“Examples abound [in California] of schools that don't include the pledge as part of the day or at some point in instruction.”
Earlier this year the Santa Barbara City College Board decided to ban the Pledge of Allegiance from its meetings because they believed the phrase "one nation under God" is "steeped in expressions of nativism and white nationalism."
I commend actor Rob Lowe, who said he was "humiliated" by their action, and Tweeted it was “idiocy.”
So, here’s one more idiocy for the Old Glory record book.
This past Thursday, longtime Arcata City Councilman Paul Pitino dropped the jaws of many of his fellow councilmen and left them speechless when he suggested eliminating the Pledge of Allegiance from all City Council meetings on the grounds that the pledge is old-fashioned and unnecessary.
“I would love to get rid of the flag salute – Pledge of Allegiance,” Pintino said.
“And the necessity for it, to me, doesn’t exist outside of trying to promote adherence to the flag, which is starting to become a little archaic in my mind.”
As Pintino confessed, the double trouble with the liberal opponents to the Pledge of Allegiance is they are not only destroying others commitment to our country, but also desecrating the U.S. flag by demoting its patriotic purpose into being nothing more than archaic ornamental drapery.
You desecrate the flag or the Pledge, you automatically desecrate them both, and then demean your own citizenry.
Unpatriotic critics like Pintino claim the Pledge of Allegiance was created solely as a PR gimmick to sell flags, and so should be discarded.
Even if true, are we now going to dismiss every pillar of culture and staple of society simply on the grounds of some aspect of aberrant origin?
Even those like the Pledge of Allegiance that have evolved into such a beautiful patriotic testimony and commitment that they rally collective love of country?
By the same rationale, consider that the names of the days of the week are derived from a faulty (earth-centered) Ptolemaic view of the universe as well as from Anglo-Saxon names for gods in Teutonic mythology.
So, should we also dump the names of week because of their false mythological origins?
That would be ridiculous on the simple grounds that they don’t represent today what they did back then.
The same could be said of the Pledge of Allegiance.
The fact is, the Pledge is not used today as a PR gimmick or to sell anything.
It is simply as its title assumes: a pledge of allegiance to the United States of America, which is merely mirroring and reciting our commitments as citizens of this great country.
It’s not like pledging allegiance is a new concept.
Most of my readers, who are great patriots, know that 17 statesalso have similar state pledges, and those are not only in the South – though some of the best originate there, in my opinion.
For example, Rhode Island (adopted in 1910):
"I pledge allegiance to our State Flag, and to the Republic of which Rhode Island forms a part; one Union inseparable, with honor and reverence for both State and Nation."
Michigan (1972): "I pledge allegiance to the flag of Michigan, and to the state for which it stands, two beautiful peninsulas united by a bridge of steel, where equal opportunity and justice to all is our ideal."
South Dakota (1987): "I pledge loyalty and support to the flag and State of South Dakota, land of sunshine, land of infinite variety."
Ohio (2002): "I salute the flag of the state of Ohio and pledge to the Buckeye State respect and loyalty."
Virginia (1954): "I salute the flag of Virginia, with reverence and patriotic devotion to the ‘Mother of States and Statesmen,’ which it represents—the ‘Old Dominion,’ where liberty and independence were born."
North Carolina (2007): "I salute the flag of North Carolina and pledge to the Old North State love, loyalty, and faith."
Arkansas (1953): "I Salute the Arkansas Flag With Its Diamond and Stars. We Pledge Our Loyalty to Thee."
Tennesseans say this for a state pledge: "Flag of Tennessee, I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance with my affection, my service and my life."
Mississippi (1972): "I salute the flag of Mississippi and the sovereign state for which it stands with pride in her history and achievements and with confidence in her future under the guidance of Almighty God."
Texas: (1933, 1965; and 2007 when "under God" was added): "Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."
My wife, Gena, and I have both the U.S. and Texas flags flying high and proud every day over the entrance of our Lone Wolf Ranch in the Lone Star State.
I would highly recommend you do the same at your residence with your state’s flag, too.
President Theodore Roosevelt said it best in 1907 when speaking to immigrants:
“There can be no divided allegiance here.
Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all.
We have room for but one flag, the American flag.”
I agree wholeheartedly with U.S. Army Specialist Jen Elliot, an injured veteran from the war in Afghanistan who was told in 2013 she couldn’t fly an American flag at her apartment in Sacramento, California.
She retorted, “We live in America.
Why shouldn’t we fly our flag proudly?”
And what about those who oppose Old Glory’s pledging or posting?
Take your orders and never forget the words of General Douglas MacArthur:
“I see that the old flagpole still stands.
Have our troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever haul them down.”
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