A recent ruling by the full panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling that banned the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools of several western states. The respondents in this case recently obtained a 90-day stay which prevented this ruling from taking effect this past Monday.
For now, the Pledge of Allegiance remains in the schools. However, the question becomes: Will the Pledge of Allegiance ultimately survive? Many who follow matters like this seem to think that the answer to this question is yes: the pledge will indeed survive the test of the U.S. Supreme Court. However, if history is any indication, the only correct answer to this question is: it depends on you, it depends on me.
Most of us have a wide of variety of strong beliefs, some of them religious, some of them not. Many times, we don’t even stop to think why we believe what we do, but ultimately, the reason for believing anything is the truth of that belief.
The Pledge of Allegiance is no different in this regard. In a sense, the pledge summarizes what we believe about America. But do Americans still truly believe everything that the Pledge of Allegiance says? Two key phrases of the Pledge of Allegiance are worth analyzing, especially considering recent history.
We pledge allegiance “to the flag” and “to the republic for which it stands.” Every word of the pledge was chosen carefully, including the word “republic.” Notice that the word “democracy” does not appear.
There are many non-trivial distinctions between these two forms of government. Essentially, a democracy is mob rule — the largest group that speaks the loudest gets what they want. Essentially, this is the way that ASM usually runs. A republic is government of, for and by the people, and included in that government is a sense of morality. Democracy, in its purest form, would allow 51 percent of the country to enslave the other 49 percent.
A recent poll conducted by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut reveals that 76 percent of Americans believe that majority opinions of the country should influence how the Supreme Court rules on matters in front of them. Apparently the founders of ASM were ahead of the curve — the judicial branch of ASM allows for open forum at their hearings and takes these opinions into account. The day that the courts of the United States become courts of public opinion is the day that we no longer have a republic.
We say that this republic is “one nation, under God.” This line, more than any others, has caused much controversy. Not only have Americans forgotten that our government must govern with morality, but they have also forgotten the source of that morality.
In a recent article in the November 2002 issue of the New Oxford Review, Anthony L. Gerring says, “… the Supreme Court has for many years now advanced the position that the country must be ‘religiously neutral,’ or secular, with regard to Almighty God. Indeed, the very same Court has used its authority to legalize and promote contraception, abortion, pornography, homosexuality, etc., and secularism is now the dominant ideology of the country. It seems meaningless to insist that the country is ‘under God’ when so many of God’s laws have been so egregiously flouted.”
When the communists controlled Russia, they immediately banned all religion and removed all religious symbols from the country. For more than half of the 20th century, the communists enforced this ban in Russia. After the Cold War ended, the symbols and religious practices came back immediately, as if they never disappeared. In fact, the Russian Orthodox Church is one of the most respected institutions in Russia today.
The reason that these symbols returned so quickly is that there is truth and moral authority behind what they stand for. Truth survives the tests of time and oppression, lies don’t.
In the same way, the Pledge of Allegiance will survive if we as Americans truly believe what it says and if we continue to build America on its solid foundation of morality — a necessity for this and any republic. The question then becomes: Is the Pledge of Allegiance true? It depends on you, it depends on me.
Mark Baumgardner ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in electrical engineering.
