Chad

Listed below is a letter to my local newpaper and my response to it.

Never before have two words struck such fear into the hearts of people.

The two words "under God," placed in a simple pledge of allegiance to the greatest country on Earth, cannot possibly be powerful enough to cause such adverse reactions from those that continue to believe themselves to be self-sufficient. The fear of being under God is a stark realization that a higher authority does indeed exist and that makes this small group of atheists continue to fight against God that they claim does not even exist.

The latest case in point is the court decision that asserts the Pledge of Allegiance in a public school is unconstitutional. This decision goes to show just how ludicrous our justice system has become and how anti-God some in our society truly are.

One cannot look very far into the birth of our nation without finding God mentioned all over the foundation of this Christian nation. Our forefathers had enough foresight and wisdom to know that a free country cannot stand very long on the shaky foundation of humanism and self-worship.

Last Sept. 11, many in this country were shocked into the realization that we are not as big and strong as we once thought we were. On that fateful day, thousands of people stood and called on an Almighty God to bring healing and peace to our nation at a time when it was clearly abundant that we did not possess the power or strength to heal ourselves.

Ultimately, I believe, the Sumpreme Court of the United States, if forced, will see to it that our nation's pledge remains intact. It is high time for this country to realize that there is no safer place in the world to be than under the steady, loving hand of an Almighty God.

MY RESPONSE

Never before has the removal of two words caused such a massive display of bigotry on the part of supposedly loving religionists.

The removal of the two words "under God" from a pledge of allegiance to the greatest country on Earth cannot possibly be powerful enough to cause such adverse reactions from those who "know" better things are to come in the next life. The fear of living in a nation that is officially neutral is a stark realization that some people honestly lack a belief in the existence of a god or gods and that liberty and justice for all means "for all." The flag should represent all Americans and not just those people that insist that God's existence is obvious despite the fact that faith is necessary to actually believe it.

The latest case in point is the court decision that asserts that the addition of "under God" to the pledge is unconstitutional. The reaction to this decision just goes to show how intolerant many Americans are towards those that do not share their superstition. The reaction also clearly demonstrates why the government must remain neutral.

One only needs to look in the constitution to discover that the words "God," "Jesus Christ," and "Christianity" are nowhere to be found. Yet, some continue to insist that ours is a Christian nation. Even if this lie were the truth, do Christians or monotheists in general expect Americans that have a different religious point of view to accept our second class status because the founders may have shared the same opinion more than 200 years before we were born?

Last Sept. 11, many in this country were shocked into the great realization that religious belief can kill. On that fateful day, religious extremists killed 3000 people and despite all the prayers, it was abundantly clear that an Almightly God did not have the power or the will to prevent it.

Ultimately, I believe, the Supreme Court of the United States, if forced to look at its previous rulings, will see to it that this decision stands and that our pledge be restored to its pre-1954 form. It is high time that Americans realize that their is no safer place in the world than in a country that does not mix religion and government. Or did we forget who we are at war with?


MODERATORS: I apologize if posting published letters to the editor violates copyright laws and I understand if it is deleted from my post. There is no link and it is important for everyone see the letter I was responding to.

Atheist121

Nice response. I've always loved parallel responses to essays

Mecha_Dude

<img src="graemlins/notworthy.gif" border="0" alt="[Not Worthy]" />
tell us if it gets published, It probably won't

Chad

Thanks for the praise. I have been published twice before in which I was either defending atheists or church and state separation. BTW, the author of the letter I responded to is a reverend. Although I did not address it in my letter, it irritates me that he thinks we worship ourselves.