My 50th post!

This is my 50th post here, and I'd like to revisit a topic: Perhaps you read my post about In God We Trust on American money and "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Briefly, these two phrases were added in the 1950s during the Cold War because the USSR was a "godless" country and America wanted to be the polar opposite.

The last time I checked, America was NOT a Christian (or any other religion) nation. In fact, it is the only country in the world that has it written into its founding documents that we are to remain secular, that church and state must remain separate. And it's brilliant foresight, because our Founding Fathers (which in itself is offensive to Native Americans but that's for another post) came to America because they were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. That's why we're here, and that's why we accept anyone looking for freedom.

Our country was not founded by Christians or Jews; it was founded by a cornucopia of brave religious and non-religious leaders. Lately, I've been seeing a lot of posts on Facebook bitching about the Pledge of Allegiance and how when they were kids "We said the pledge with 'under God' in it and that's they way it should be.

This is a perfect time to return to the Native American angle. While a lot of American Indians assimilated into Christianity (likely in fear of following their dead ancestors), many of them have their own religion. We stole their land and basically forced Christianity on them. They still live here as citizens, yet our money and pledge doesn't reflect the beliefs of all of them.

How about the Muslims or Hindus who are American citizens? Are they not part of "All men are created equal," which easily supersedes any pledge or monetary phrase? Are they less important than Christian god-fearing Americans? If you're answer is yes, you're a racist and/or a bigot. If your answer is no, then how would you like it if "one nation, under Allah" was in the pledge?

I also find it hilarious that the word immediately following "under god" is "indivisible."

And of course what about non-believers? They make up 20 percent of America. Should they not be considered? Imagine if our laws only applied to 80 percent of our constituents. "I know I was smoking crack, Officer, but it's not illegal for me because I'm an atheist." Ridiculous, right?

Or maybe you'd be OK with "In Krishna We Trust" on our money. If this offends you in any way or makes you feel a tinge uncomfortable, then you know how non-believers, Muslims, Hindus, etc., who live here feel. This isn't the Land of the Majority; it's the Land of the Free and that also means we're free from religion in our government.