{"id":2160,"date":"2011-06-28T21:57:21","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T01:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/?p=2160"},"modified":"2011-06-29T07:46:51","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T11:46:51","slug":"eugene-oregon-city-council-votes-against-pledge-of-allegiance-wars-in-afghanistan-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/06\/eugene-oregon-city-council-votes-against-pledge-of-allegiance-wars-in-afghanistan-iraq.html","title":{"rendered":"Oregon city council votes against Pledge of Allegiance, wars in Afghanistan & Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Councilman Mike Clark<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The city council in Eugene, Oregon, has voted down a proposal to say the Pledge of Allegiance before every council meeting.<\/p>\n

One council member who voted for the ban said reading the pledge was like reading the Communist Manifesto before every meeting.<\/p>\n

Including the Pledge into the opening of every meeting was proposed by Councilman Mike Clark.<\/p>\n

It was voted down, but a compromise was passed that seemed to please nobody — an agreement to recite the pledge\u00a0at Eugene City Council meetings coinciding with the Fourth of July, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Flag Day.<\/p>\n

In the same meeting, council members\u00a0also voted against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Councilman George Brown voted against the Pledge compromise, saying the Pledge of Allegiance had no place at City Hall. \u201cPeople can say it in their front yard or backyard,\u201d Brown says. \u201cIt does not unite us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilman Clark,\u00a0who\u00a0wanted the\u00a0Pledge to be recited before each council session,\u00a0says all he\u00a0just wanted to\u00a0do was to unite the council and show that in his city —\u00a0which brags of\u00a0celebrating\u00a0diversity\u00a0—\u00a0that the city council values traditional values\u00a0as a part of\u00a0that diversity.<\/p>\n

“Clark said part of his motivation was to respond to constituents who often cite the fact that some Eugene traditions \u2014 namely, the eccentric Eugene Celebration in late summer \u2014 do not sit well with some residents but are nonetheless tolerated,” reported Stefan Verbano for the Eugene Register-Guard<\/em> newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
School children reciting pledge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cTolerating differences is an important part of the community that we live in,\u201d Clark said. Observing the Pledge, he said has “become an issue of tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown disagreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole notion that we need something for the \u2018not-weird\u2019 seems very weird to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The council also voted 7-1 to endorse a resolution \u201cexpressing the City Council\u2019s desire that funds to continue the Iraq and Afghanistan wars be directed to domestic priorities, including the pressing needs in the city of Eugene.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pledge issue surfaced several weeks ago when Clark\u00a0recommended that the pledge be recited at the start of the city’s twice-monthly council meetings — 24 times annually. The compromise will see the Pledge observed four times annually.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city council in Eugene, Oregon, has voted down a proposal to say the Pledge of Allegiance before every council meeting. One council member who voted for the ban said reading the pledge was like reading the Communist Manifesto before every meeting. Including the Pledge into the opening of every meeting was proposed by Councilman…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[193,71,255,107],"tags":[280,381,281,438],"class_list":["post-2160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-free-speech","category-news","category-pledge-of-allegiance","category-political-correctness","tag-eugene","tag-news","tag-oregon","tag-pledge-of-allegiance"],"yoast_head":"\nOregon city council votes against Pledge of Allegiance, wars in Afghanistan & Iraq - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars<\/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\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/2011\/06\/eugene-oregon-city-council-votes-against-pledge-of-allegiance-wars-in-afghanistan-iraq.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oregon city council votes against Pledge of Allegiance, wars in Afghanistan & Iraq - On the Front Lines of the Culture Wars\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The city council in Eugene, Oregon, has voted down a proposal to say the Pledge of Allegiance before every council meeting. 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