{"id":1332,"date":"2015-06-29T22:26:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T02:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2015-06-29T22:26:12","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T02:26:12","slug":"myron-pauli-the-pledge-of-allegiance-versus-the-us-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2015\/06\/myron-pauli-the-pledge-of-allegiance-versus-the-us-constitution.html","title":{"rendered":"Myron Pauli: The Pledge of Allegiance versus The US Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just in time for Independence Day, guest-blogger Myron Pauli addresses the conflict between the Pledge of Allegiance, on the one hand, and, on the other, The United States Constitution. All patriotic Americans who have the opportunity to do so should read what Myron has to say.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My father and his parents were lucky to get to America from Nazi-run Austria, and my daughter was a refugee from China. So I certainly appreciate this country: Few are even as remotely free.<\/p>\n

However, as another 4th<\/sup> of July approaches, I often feel compelled to criticize the lack of appreciation of liberty in this nation just as Moses felt compelled to rebuke the people he so loved.<\/p>\n

The Pledge of Allegiance was introduced by a Christian socialist named Francis Bellamy in 1892. It even came with a \u201cBellamy salute,\u201d which became commonplace in Central Europe 45 years later. Although the Constitution does not authorize an \u201cofficial\u201d Pledge and the 10th<\/sup> Amendment reserves those powers not granted to the Federal Government to the states and people, it was adopted by the Congress in 1942. Small children are indoctrinated to pledge even if they have no idea what the words mean. But aside from the salute, what does the pledge say?<\/p>\n

From the time Americans are small children, they are expected to pledge their allegiance to both \u201cthe flag of the United States of America\u201d as well as \u201c<\/em>to\u00a0the<\/em> Republic for which it stands [.]\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Hold on! The pledge has 50 stars \u2013 which stand for each state. And what does Article 4, Section 4 of the Constitution say? \u201cThe United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government\u201d. Thus, the flag actually stands for a Republic of Republics\u2014not \u201cthe<\/em> Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The point, though, is that the Pledge is in contradiction to the Constitution itself.<\/p>\n

If the \u201cUnited States\u201d is just singular, how does one explain Article 3, Section 3 which defines treason against the United States as consisting \u201conly in levying War against them<\/em>, or in adhering to\u00a0their<\/em> Enemies?\u201d In pledging allegiance to the flag, do we pledge to violate the Constitution? Do the stars refer to some Greek Constellation?<\/p>\n

Then, of course, we have the Constitution\u2019s Article 6 Section 3. This expressly states that \u201cno religious\u00a0test<\/em> shall ever be required\u201d for those aspiring to hold office. But what does the phrase \u201cunder G0d\u201d in the pledge denote if not a religious oath?\u00a0 To reconcile these tensions, must we resort to some Clintonism to the effect that we must ask ourselves the meanings of \u201coath\u201d and \u201cpledge\u201d?<\/p>\n

As for pledging to secure \u201cjustice for all,\u201d <\/em>familiarity with some contemporary events in the arena of racial politics makes a mockery of this. After all, since \u201cblack lives matter\u201d, neither George Zimmerman nor Darren Wilson is entitled for a self-defense excuse because that would not be \u201cjustice.\u201d The latter requires a conviction regardless of a grand jury or petit jury. In Baltimore, indictments were filed by Marilyn Mosby so \u201cyou can stop rioting\u201d. Did keeping Jose Padilla imprisoned for 43 months without an indictment constitute justice for all<\/em>? Did trying defendants in Federal Court for crimes they were exonerated of in State Court constitute \u201cjustice\u201d in light of the fifth Amendment\u2019s prohibition on double jeopardy?<\/p>\n

Neither do we seem concerned about securing \u201cliberty \u2026 for all<\/em>.\u201d Yet, in Minersville School District vs. Gobitis, the Supreme Court by 8-1 endorsed government punishment of children who refused to pledge (and this was when the Bellamy salute \u2013 \u2018Seig Heil!\u201d \u2013 was still standardized). How about adults? Yes sir, I pledge, under compulsion from the government, to support \u201cliberty\u201d! OK, the Supreme Court reversed itself a few years later when the US was now at war against\u00a0a nation which mandated the same Bellamy Salute. Of course, we know how flighty the Supreme Court is. As for liberty in the nation with as many people in jail as in China and Russia combined, one might<\/em>\u00a0question whether we have \u201cliberty for all\u201d.<\/p>\n

I have decided instead to proclaim: \u201cI support the Constitution of the United States and the concept of limited government whose purpose is to secure our rights\u201d as my personal Pauli substitute. Besides, one might even ask: To\u00a0whom<\/em> are you pledging?\u00a0 Is it Obama, Boehner, TSA, CIA, NSA, DEA, BATF, Federal Reserve, Freddie Mae, HUD, SWAT teams, HHS, Departments of Labor or Energy or Education or Agriculture, Homeland Security, AMTRAK, NASA, INS, FDA, Bureau of Indian Affairs, NATO, Trans-Pacific Partnership, ????????<\/p>\n

The United States that I love guarantees individual liberties. In fact, I believe that the 4th<\/sup> of July did not come about from worship of Empire but from devotion to individual freedom. However, for those who prefer mindless displays of national patriotism, other nations truly put us to shame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just in time for Independence Day, guest-blogger Myron Pauli addresses the conflict between the Pledge of Allegiance, on the one hand, and, on the other, The United States Constitution. All patriotic Americans who have the opportunity to do so should read what Myron has to say. My father and his parents were lucky to get…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMyron Pauli: The Pledge of Allegiance versus The US Constitution<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2015\/06\/myron-pauli-the-pledge-of-allegiance-versus-the-us-constitution.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Myron Pauli: The Pledge of Allegiance versus The US Constitution\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Just in time for Independence Day, guest-blogger Myron Pauli addresses the conflict between the Pledge of Allegiance, on the one hand, and, on the other, The United States Constitution. 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