…One nation, in your head, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

As in, America is only indivisible “in your head”. In reality we are torn apart by the divisiveness of the Religious Right. Liberty and justice for all (believers) is an ideal we rarely see realized. There’s a reason they call it the American dream - that’s all it is for most people.

I’m not sure how well the phrase actually translates, since this is a word-by-word translation from a German-English dictionary. Maybe you could check with a native speaker.

I AM, I solved your wife’s problem,

When she says the Pledge of Allegiance with her class, she should say “One nation, under Cod”. It sounds so phonetically close to God that probably no one will notice. Plus, the cod fishing industry is very important in America!

Whattaya’all think?

My kids say the pledge at school and at Scouts. I say it with them when I’m there. For the last two years, I literally cried every time I said it. Last night, I did not.

I was mourning our country as I said it before and now I feel empowered by the change in govt.

This is my country. I believe it is a great place, with many, many wonderful people. And many, many assholes. Belief in god does not determine who is wonderful and who is an asshole. It seems to be a random assignment. Being religious does not make one a better person; sometimes it seems to be used to justify nasty, judgmental bullshit. The country has been run recently by Christians who wouldn’t help their neighbor if they were run over a bus. The country has gone back to the Dems, who seem to be more generous of spirit and likely to perform in a little c christian way - and not because they are Christians. So I didn’t have to cry last night.

Under God… this is a country “under God”. Almost everyone is a believer. I am not. I live in a world where that seems not to matter that much. I don’t have to fight to keep my job, or justify to anyone what I do on Sunday (or Sat) mornings. But the Pledge is like a Battle Cry to me. I say it, and I mean that this is a Country Under God, and that today I will see if I can do something to change it to a Country under a Belief in Mutual Respect for Each Other.

I say it and I mean something different than the others who say it. And I feel good every time I say it. When I hear the voices of the children mindlessly saying it - I have hope for a future when they will question what it means. And I know that since I have this opportunity to bond with these kids, 5-10-15 years from now I will have a chance to have a real conversation with some of them about important stuff. They know I am someone they can talk to. For now I just leave it alone.

*****That said - I think even with the preschoolers, I might tell them about a religious group that isn’t permitted to say the pledge. And to just say that under the rules in our country, that’s perfectly okay. And then just go on and have them say it. Knowing that there is a choice would be a wonderful lesson your wife could share with them.*****

On the other subjects raised here yesterday:

believing there is someone/something out there is just insane

you can’t talk (or “logic”) someone out of a fundamental belief, they have to live their way out of it

you cannot make an atheist find God by reason - they believe that the idea is ridiculous - you can’t make something not ridiculous by talking about it

the bible is a book - just a book - full of stories - it is not a rule book for life - so knock it off with the bible already

for all you Christians out there - just SHUT UP and go do something good today - help your neighbor - when you’ve fed as many people as Jesus did - come back and try to convert us - until then, you are not in a position to speak HIS WORD