Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.
-mandatory pledge for Texas Schools-
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
-Third Commandment-
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-mandatory pledge for Texas Schools-
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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"Personally, I felt like the Texas pledge had a big old hole in it, and it occurred to me, 'You know what? We need to fix that,' "said Texas State Representative Debbie Riddle about why it was necessary that small children be forced into making religious oaths in an archaic dialect affirming God while "honoring" a piece of cloth. I wonder if the Eastern, secular, Liberal Elite who wrote the Constitution and founded the United States of America could possibly imagine such a political entity as Texas being included amongst those states. Even Texas itself couldn't find support for a secular pledge until 1933 much less one that establishes that state as a subject of Yahweh, but the Texas Legislature, apparently as concerned about holes in things as is Debbie Riddle decided in its last session to require a religious oath of students in defiance of the United States Constitution and the Third Commandment.
Of course they smile and tell you your kid will be let off the hook if he brings a note from mother, in full knowledge that little Dick or Jane will have to sit there looking sick while the teacher/preacher takes God's name in vain and later perhaps be chased around the prickly pear to taunts of Christ Killer, dothead, raghead or worse, but that's OK if it if drives them into the arms of Jesus, ain't it?
Actually Texas' pledge for many years following its inception in 1933 was "Honor the Texas Flag of 1836; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one and indivisible." that would have been amusing to anyone in that state who could read and was possessed of a sense of humor since the pledge referred to the 1836 Texas National Flag and not the one used then or now. Fortunately by 1951, someone noticed but it wasn't until 1965 that the Lone Synapse State figured out how to delete the words 1836.
Unfortunately, declining educational levels since 1965 and the ascendancy of Neo-Christian supremacists allowed the smiling morons of the legislative Jesus Jihad to notice a big ol' hole in things and as of June 15th Texas Students must take the name of Yahweh in vain and their teachers, by law, must require this sectarian religious observance in defiance of Federal law.
It's getting harder and harder to give a damn any more.
5 comments:
I started reading this post because it was about Texas, a subject dear to my heart. Texas is exactly where I would expect this to happen. Texans would be the first to tell us that they are the most patriotic people and state in the nation. At the same time they will give the nod to corruption, anti constitutional practices, even assassination. I had to live there for a year and the the attitudes I ran into were so bias, racist and ignorant that I swore I would never go back. I'm sure that there are many wonderful, tolerant Texans. I wish they would elect them to office instead of the likes of Delay, Bush, Bush, Johnson.
Politically, Texas is dangerous and I think we need to keep an eye on the Texas connection in all of our Federal politics.
Reading here that they once again flagrantly disregard the law, indeed force their own children to violate the law, is no surprise to me.
If it weren't for ZZ Topp and Janice I'd say nothing good ever came out of that place.
I had to chuckle over the part about Texas being indivisible - I guess gerrymandering doesn't count.
Ditto on Janis. Off topic, assume you are in Florida..if so you are 12 hours behind me so when I see your 8am comment, it is 8pm here. I was in the army in texas (Ft Hood)and I realize that is already a bias, unreal and surreal situation, but still had lots of contact with civilians and thus, the comments above. I have never been to florida but did spend a year in Georgia (Ft Gordon)and have been other places in the south. Somehow, you don't sound like a native southerner. Tell me if I am wrong.
When I was in school, I had a classmate who was a Jehovah's Witness. Every morning, when we'd say the pledge of allegiance, he was to get up, and stand outside the classroom until it was over, per teacher's rules. He was made to feel humiliated intentionally, while the rest of us recited something we had never even thought about -- rote blabbering. I feel sorry for that kid now, but back then, I didn't question any of it.
I was born in New York, grew up and lived most of my life in Illinois. I've been in Florida 6 years.
Kids have a hard enough time without injecting this tribal crap into their lives. The whole idea of the separation of Church and State is that no one is disadvantaged by not being part of the authorized state belief and that includes monotheism itself.
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