The American's Creed

[dufus]

Has anybody actually seen, heard, or read this? I find it equally appropo today as when it was written.


The American's Creed

"I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principals of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.

I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to defend it againest all enemies."



For an enlightening history of this official US document, see the following http://www.usflag.org/americancreed.html

[Sponsored Links]

[Davestone]

:tup2: :usflag: :tup2:

[John Bridge]

Sums it up. :)

[Steven Hauser]

No problem from this quadrant.

:)

[Oldrem]

Great simple patriotic document. The sad part is, if it was ever asked to be recited in the public schools - the ACLU would have it banned just like they did the Pledge of Allegiance :usflag:

[bbcamp]

Eric, what part would the ACLU object to? The part about respecting the flag? No mention of God or religion, as far as I can see. Maybe the part about having to recite it in the first place. I dunno...

[Oldrem]

They would probably find no fault with the first paragraph Bob, but I could just see the hard left wing tearing the 2nd one apart

[Scooter]

The reference to a single God, e.g., the Christian God, was the basis of the objection of the ACLU to the Pledge of Allegiance.


The Pledge didn't reference the Jewish God, Allah, Buddah, or the plethora of other Gods worshipped in this great nation.

The point being that the government is not a theocracy. There is freedom of religion, and I find it particularly offensive that a single God somehow created and now looks over our Country, as if there is only a single God worthy of worship and the others are junk.

However, I fully support the Creed and find nothing objectionable in it.

I do think we need to respect the flag--I see no reason however to pass a law prohibiting flag burning. To my knowledge, there has been no rash of flag burning to protect us from and this is an election year stunt. There has to be bigger issues for the Congress than to drag this old worn out Bill again.

When I was in high school in 1967, one of my friends was expelled for wearing black armbands in school. Took the case to the US Supreme Court. Guy's name was John Tinker. Abe Fortas held that a guy has the right of symbolic free speech.

[flatfloor]

The ACLU would object to the contest in the first place on the grounds that it was unfair to minorities and would require a working knowledge of the English language. :blah:

Scooter where does itsay Christian God?

........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.

[Scooter]

Neither the Buddahists nor the Muslems pray to God--they pray to Buddah and Allah. Unless you know something I don't.

But if you think the 3-4 gods' names are all interchangible, then fine and dandy, substitute Allah in the Pledge of Allegiance. Would you be OK with that?

Of course not. Its not YOUR God. You would be offended.

And thats my point. We don't live in a theocracy.

[flatfloor]

I would be offended because it is not my language. Allah translated means God.

[Scooter]

Yeah, right. And Buddah translated means God.

Try to open up a Catholic Church in Southern Afghanistan, and I think they'll learn ya'all some bout the definition of Allah and God.

[flatfloor]

Strange, many of the original thirteen colonies were founded in order to ensure freedom of religion and now we can't even say the word God lest we offend someone.

Fortunately we don't live in Afghanistan.

Islam is based in on Jewish and Christian principles, shares much of their tenants, acknowledges all of thir prophets, does not acknowledge Jesus as God but recognizes him as another holy prophet the same as Mohamed.

I'm almost certain I didn't include Buddha in my statement and I haven't seen or heard any hue and cry being raised by the Buddhists.

[bbcamp]

We've drifted, the topic is the American's Creed, not the Pledge...

[Scooter]

I take offense at the word god and as you can discern from the outcry by many (probably a minority), there are others like me.

While there certainly was a single Christain God in the minds of the Constitutions framers (they were all Christian, none were Jews, Buddahists, or Muslems), this is a different country now. We now have those religious sects that don't pray to your god.

I don't either because I left the Catholic church and god when the Catholic and god allowed priests to molest small children and cover up the events. This is the same christian god that you probably pray to.

I went to my priest in 1997, I had a heart to heart with him about my feelings and the allegations and some of the convictions, and he told me that no priest molested children, and that what I was thinking was essentially blaspheny. I just about slugged him and called him a CS.

So I take offense at the language. I want no part of a god or church that permits, allows, encourgages and covers up child molestation. So yes, I take offense, and there are many like me that take offense.

I am open to worshiping at other gods, Allah, Buddah, Zeus, Celtic Gods of Mercury, Jupiter or Zeus. Got any good ideas for gods that I might worship to?

The Celtic gods are particularly appealling to me at this point.

To my knowledge the followers of the Celtic gods did not sponsor child molestation. So I am looking into forming a Church based on one of their numerous dieties (they have about 200). Maybe you and I can be the founding members.

All we need is some money for evagelical television shows, and I'll have the reigion up to several million by 2010. Maybe then I'll qualify to have the word "Mercury" or "Zeus" in the Pledge.

[flatfloor]

All we need is some money for evagelical television shows, and I'll have the reigion up to several million by 2010. Maybe then I'll qualify to have the word "Mercury" or "Zeus" in the Pledge.

Now you're talking. I'll set up the accounts in the Caymans. :D

[Dave Taylor]

Five million of our older Americans have not signed up yet for their Medicare, Part D drug plan -- they are old and confused (one of which is me).

We are not going to grant them an extension.

Twelve million illegal aliens are in our country and we are going to allow them to stay, protest, procreate, receive support monies, attend schools, avoid paying income taxes, get food stamps, get free health care, receive earned income credits when they do happen to file their federal taxes, use fraudulent Social Security numbers, have our teachers take 300 hours of ESOL (English as a second language) training at our expense, etc.

We must really dislike our old people or... we must really love Tacos!!

It's hell to git's old.

[Richard Tunison]

Religion/Reality

I think our own native peoples and most indigenious peoples had it right ..
Respect mother earth. You can't eat money.

[Scooter]

As I like to say, illegal immigration has always been a problem--just ask any Indian.

[Eugenius]

Living in Mexico throughout most of the 1980's, I was surprised how some Mexicans took offense to me referring to myself a an 'American'. Some would bow up and inform me that they lived on the North American continent just like I did and that I was a 'gringo', a 'gavacho', a United States Citizen and although they were Mexican citizens, they were just as American as I was. I took that to heart.
Therefore, the 'American's Creed', were it to be a respectable creed at all, should be more appropriately titled, "The United States Citizens Creed" and totally reworded. The 'American's Creed ' sounds like something penned by a student at Jerry Fallwell's Liberty College.
James Carvelle said of Jerry Falwell, "I wouldn't piss down his throat if his heart was on fire."... James must not be a christian...
I would piss down Carvelle or Fallwell's throats if their respective hearts were on fire. That's the Christian thing to do.
The 'American's Creed' also sounds like a knockoff of the 'Apostles Creed'.
I prefer the Apostles Creed. It says that I believe and I'm not making any promises that I can't keep. That's grace.
Mark Twain wasn't a believing man but neither was he unkind to Christianity or religion in general. He said, "Most people are bothered by those Scripture passages they cannot understand. The passages that trouble me most are the ones that I do understand."
Believe what you want on the road of life.
Never believe that all those roads lead to the same place.
Check out your MAPSCO...
("Indians" are actually 'native americans')
'indians' are the outsourced...

[maniche]

i SAY THANKS

[maniche]

plz post more

[dnlblank2]

Some folks follow a line of reasoning that goes something like this.

For God to be worthy he must be all good and all powerful.

Since priests did molest children and that is bad, then God must either be not all good or not all powerful, and therefore not worthy, or he just doesn't exist at all.

But if God is a fake, why is it so doggone offensive to have his name mentioned in the pledge or anywhere else for that matter?

David

[Angie]

Because some of us really do feel the sentiment in the pledge is good and and profound and shouldn't be minimalized and used cavalierly by adding the condition of "under some fictional character". I wouldn't be any happier if it said under Santa Clause, Under Superman, Under Spiderman and to me it is essentially the same thing. I think the pledge is more profound without the trivializing comment "under god". But I'm becoming accustomed to the idea it will remain there as we are becoming more like Afganistan (theocratic) every day.

[Scooter]

"God" is not a fake. He/she/it is real for billions of people. I have two points to make.

One, there is no one "God". Muslems have a god that at least in some minds, thinks it is great to blow up Americans and they get 72 Virgins for doing so. Thats not my God. Hindu's have a God that says we are all resurected and come back as a frog, a cow, or another human in X years. Thats not my God, and I don't pray to it. Jews have a God that says you can't eat bacon or you go to hell. I don't believe it that, and thats not my God. Christians have numerous Gods, some apparently supporting child molestation, others claim that everyother person is damned in hell unless he or she professes allegiance to that single God, others prohibit drinking and smoking. Thats not my God, and I don't pray to that one either. Some don't believe in any Gods.

So it is clear, at least to me, that there are hundreds of "Gods". The concept that there is only one God that loves and protects the United States is ridiculous.

Second Point:

I don't like your God, I don't pray to him/her/it, and please don't make pledge allegiance to him/her/it.

I wouldn't ask you to pledge allegiance to my Gods. Don't ask me to do the same.

Like I said, I worship Celtic and Druid Gods, and there are about 200 of them. They don't have any dietary restrictions, don't condone child molestation, don't require homosexuals as priests, its OK to have married priests, you don't have to go to a building and worship, and salvation is not restricted to our sect. Beer drinking is encourgaged. All in all, its a great religion. I'm looking for converts so I can start a Televised Evangelical program to make millions.

[Steven Hauser]

Ah Scooter et al. that agree with his comments.

You miss the point entirely.

You base the concept of God on your relative interpretation, and you arrive at several gods.

God is not relative, God is not a concept. God is all and God is absolute.

I agree we don't live in a theocracy, I see no problem altering the pledge of allegiance, I've got issues with who you think is native; namely this,everyone emigrated to this continent from somewhere else. Some recently some a really long time ago.

I'm OK with saying the United States of America instead of just American.

Beyond that my usual disclaimer whenm sending money to Flatfloor. :deal:

Good luck raising funds,

[Scooter]

Actually Steve as far as native americans, I was trying to make a joke and a point. Clearly the Indians were the 1st people here and the Europeans were the first immigrants. They didn't want us here, and we actually fought wars to evict them from the lands they occupied.

You make the point that the Europeans that came here centuries ago should not be classified as illegal immigrants. Careful, I think you' might be advocating amnesty, and those are dangerous words in these parts.

Seriously, I see little difference between the illegal immigration then and now. We are still fighting that war, but this time we are on the other side. I hope we win. However, it doesn't look good.

As for God, I take no allegiance to any gods other than my own gods. So perhaps "one nation under Gods" would work. Like I say I have many.

Seeing that it is Friday, we pray to Druid beer and tequilla god tonight, and if we pray too much, I then kneel before the porceline bowl god and pray to him exorcizing my sins.

[Angie]

I see no problem altering the pledge of allegiance,

Actually the pledge has already been altered. The baptist minister who wrote it did not include under god. That was added later in response to communist atheism or some such. So I would like to have it restored to its original written by the baptist minister who thought adding under god unwise. It existed without that phrase for longer than it has had that phrase.

[Steven Hauser]

OK Scooter,

Remember this someday, you are loved whether you are angry or not. Your anger with the humans who portray themselves as holy is justified IMO, your attribution to God is wrong IMO. We who are fallible will never comprehend the infallible.

I unfortunately have knelt before the porcelain god before, and I hope that when I do again it is a clean one. ;)


____
Angie, that is correct and I agree.

[Beaux]

Changing the pledge.. Hell no , I LIKE MOST AMERICANS said it with my hand on my chest every morning, after the first school bell rang every day with Pride. Being a southern babtist I only know of one God , he being the same God in the Pledge, on the money in your wallet.. And in the Bible. As far as the chilod molesters ................ :complain: I leave that for the imagination for i don't want to be banned from the site. But allah, buda and the celtic crap :lol2: I wishem luck

Beaux Spurlock

[jjwq8]

If you feel the need to pledge then go ahead.
If you subscribe to and are convinced of the ethos of a single all powerful being variously described as "God" "Allah" "Buddah" or anything else, why is it important to restate that which you know to be true irrespective of the views of others?
To do so is dogma.
I believe, that is enough for me. If others choose to belive that too is fine. I do not demand that they believe what I believe. If my belief is true then eventually the self evident truth will make itself known to all.
We are the caretakers of the space we occupy and God as he/she is being discussed here is a human construct.
God exists because my dying father told us so as he described the Angels who came to take him.
Dave Allen had it right. "Good night, and may your God go with you".

[Eugenius]

What does that mean?...

[flatfloor]

In my opinion. :)

[bbcamp]

In your opinion, what? Come on, Jim, out with it! What does it mean! :crazy:

[flatfloor]

Bob, you been out back at the still again? :D

[Scooter]

Does that mean Jeremy, you won't be joining MY church and worshipping my Gods?

I tell you its a great religion--you get to drink as much as you want, there are no dues, we don't molest small children, we are not dogmatic, we don't preach marital fidelity, then cheat on our wife, we believe that salvation is for anyone of any religion, we allow gays into the church, we don't don't insist upon homosexual priests (although a priests can be married single or gay), and our church stays out of politics. We don't have a particular day to worship And, this is really a plus, the Celtic church has about 200 Gods. So you get to pick. The last time I checked, it was OK to have kinky sex, too, although at my age, that is a very unlikely option.

Is this a great religion or what?

And, my religion is not "crap", as one poster suggeted. Everyone has the right to worship the God(s) of their own choice without criticism--at least I thought that was our creed. I guess thats now changed in America, too--we only have tolerance for only the religion of the majority.

So sad.

[John Corley]

Scooter what do they offer for the afterlife? :fish2: ?

[Eugenius]

or Episcopalian, or Baptist, or Church o' Christ, Hindi, Islamic or whatever.
A local early morning radio jock here in the Metromess (DFW), claims to be an adherant to the 'church of the golden calf.' It's all BS like what you've been shoveling but it's entertaining.
My uncle Skip is a dyed in the wool Baptist. I'm a Christian who happens to go to a Methodist church. He asked me the other day, "Doug, do you know the difference between a Baptist and a Methodist?"...I said, "What?"
He replied, "A Methodist, when he recognizes you, will speak to you at the liqour store."

[flatfloor]

Imus when he first was on NYC radio had a character named Rev. Billy Sol Hargus. His church was the "First Church of the Gooey Death" :uhh:

[Steven Hauser]

Hell Scooter, I thought you were trying to make a point about freedom of religion, and if so, you did, the other person was making a point with freedom of speech, the ACLU doesn't own the interpretive license on that one, they can call your religion crap, and you can say that they are closed minded.

Ain't freedom great?

[jjwq8]

If I may take a point perhaps a little too literally.

If we accept that "God" is everywhere and in everything, then it follows that whilst "he" may be heard in a childs laughter, he may also be smelt in the poopy diaper.

Thus if religion is Man's adoration of "God", it follows that in some instances, any and all religion is crap.

[flatfloor]

Allah, Buddha, God, somebody help me. I'm starting to follow you're logic Jeremy. Not sure the Jesuits would approve though. :D

I think it's time for another Inquisition. :nod:

[Eugenius]

as I vaguely remember Billy Sol Estes...
I vaguely remember 'Reverend Ike' broadcasting from California , saying,...
" da lack o' money is da root o' all evil."

Maybe Reverend Ike was correct, but in a parallel universe. :devil:

Is there a place for God?,...yes.

In your heart, not in your mind. :goodluck:

[PaulHG]

"Then I asked hime (the devil) which religion was the truest -
'They are all about the same -
'Buddha wasn' a Christian - but Jesus would have made a good Buddhist' "

[dufus]

I didn't even say the word "God" or even hint at religion and look where this thread has taken us. All I did was post a patriotic document (on Independence Day) that was written long ago in an attempt to get each of us to ponder what it means to be an American. :scratch:

By the way, nothing any hyper-sensitive person (regardless where he/she lives) says about the term "American" can dispute the fact that it, when used as a noun, is a documented slang for an inhabitant or citizen of the United States of America. When used an an adjective, then it can sometimes be implied as having a relationship with the North/South Americas, but even then, the primary definition of the adjective points to the USA. See excerpt below.

A·mer·i·can
adj.
1) Of or relating to the United States of America or its people, language, or culture.
2) Of or relating to North or South America, the West Indies, or the Western Hemisphere.
3) Of or relating to any of the Native American peoples.
4) Indigenous to North or South America. Used of plants and animals.

n.
1) A native or inhabitant of America.
2) A citizen of the United States.

Please note the author of the posted document - even way back then - understood this relationship. That's why it's called "The American's Creed." And just for painful clarity, that means a creed owned by, or pertaining to, the American.

{End of today's grammar lesson that nobody cares about.} :blah:

I'm not even going to touch the religion/God comments. If anybody wants to know my feelings, you can PM me. Otherwise, my convictions are too precious to be splayed out here for everyone to stomp on...again. :tongue:

[jdm]

Out of curiosity, I just looked up the official name of every country in the Americas, except for a couple of the tiny outlying island nations. And guess what -- there is not another nation with the word "America" in it's name. So I don't think that it's too outrageous for overbearing for citizens of the USA to call themselves Americans.

And the full name of Mexico is "The United Mexican States" ("Estados Mexicanos Unidos") so if a Mexican was particulary ornery, he could object to the USA claiming the name "United States", too.

[flatfloor]

When people of another country refer to us they call us Americans. :nod:

[Eugenius]

at least has a lake named after him. :bow: