A reader asks what I think of the Pledge of Allegiance. Should a Christian "pledge allegiance to the flag"? Well, it all depends I suppose on just what level such allegiance is seen to exist, and even what "allegiance" in and of itself signfies.
On another level entirely, however, is this fact. The Pledge was not written by a member of the Christian Right; anything but. Rather, it was a "Christian socialist" by the name of Francis Bellamy, who believed in both individual sin and corporate responsibility, who penned those words. See my Cornerstone magazine article, The Pledge of Allegiance and Its Author. (The "under God" part came in during Eisenhower's era in 1954, inspired by the Knights of Columbus but pushed through by Ike himself.)
2 comments:
I don’t recite the pledge of allegiance, because as a Christen my allegiance is to the kingdom of God. I do however recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday as a way of stating my allegiance to God’s kingdom. There is a difference between the two!
I don't recite The Pledge either, though I do rise out of respect. Christians should not wed themselves to any single nation. We are part of a greater Kingdom, and our country of birth or residence has little significance. Though I am grateful to live in the US, I am not a patriot. I will support our nation when it acts righteously and push to change it when it goes astray.
Along the same lines, I'll have to take issue with Jon. Though it's humorous to be a "Blue Christian," with all the connotations of "blue," I don't believe that Christianity is either conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat. We are Believers, Christians, Followers of The Way and should acknowledge that our faith does not fit neatly into any other camp. I am a centrist myself, but only if you average my extreme views from either end of the perspective. Just food for thought.
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