Being a subversive Atheist

I remember saying the Pledge of Allegiance while in grade school. We would all stand up, hands over our hearts, and say the words in a monotone drone. I would recite the words out of habit, without any real introspection or understanding of what they meant.

Kind of like when I prayed. If I was ordered to say 10 Hail Marys, I would simply say the words to the prayer 10 times. I might as well have been counting to 100 for all the meaning I assigned the words. There was no emotion and definitely no sincerity.

And I don't think I am alone. That's why I find the furor over the pledge somewhat interesting. It's not as though the pledge is an essential social element binding our nation together. It's a chore half-asleep schoolchildren have to perform, and they do so with little gusto.

MaxSpeak takes this argument further, arguing quite effectively that atheists would do more to advance their cause by leaving the pledge alone:

While the fellow bringing suit in re: the pledge has a perfect right to go on the way he does without social sanction, a more strategic and devious approach to the matter from an atheist perspective would be to leave the pledge just the way it is. The best way to leach all meaning from religious doctrine is to boil it down to vacuous slogans, then institutionalize these cliches in the spheres of civil proceedings and popular culture.

Posted July 01, 2002 08:10 AM | Comments (1)