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Done screwing up the Pledge of Allegiance for generations to come, meddling Reverend dies.
The Reverend George Docherty, most famous for misleading hundreds of millions of Americans who don't fully understand the founding principles laid out in the Bill of Rights, has died at his home in rural Pennsylvania. He leaves behind a wife, probably some kids, and a national fallacy that will probably take centuries to correct.
In 1954, upon learning President Dwight Eisenhower would be attending his New York City church, Rev. Docherty took it upon himself to WAAAAAAY overstep his presumed “authority” as a clergyman. He used his sermon to encourage Eisenhower to include the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. (Learn the history of the Pledge here.)
The good reverend’s inane reason for helping to dismantle the principles of his newly adopted country was this: "I came from Scotland where we say, ‘God save our gracious Queen,’ and ‘God save our gracious King’. Here was the Pledge of Allegiance, and God wasn't in it at all." he admitted in a 2004 interview.
Before emigrating here, Docherty clearly didn’t read the Bill of Rights before shooting his mouth off in church. Otherwise, he would have known that the very First Amendment unequivocally states that ''Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion'' (even before there’s any mention of Free Speech).
His anti-American call to include “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance inspired the equally ignorant, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich) to put forward that wholly unconstitutional bill as propaganda to help differentiate the “god-fearing” United States from the “godless heathens” of the Communist Soviet Union.
But according to Slate.com, America has never been one nation under God. "In fact, the founders opposed the institutionalization of religion. They kept the Constitution free of references to God. The document mentions religion only to guarantee that godly belief would never be used as a qualification for holding office—a departure from many existing state constitutions. That the founders made erecting a church-state wall their first priority when they added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution reveals the importance they placed on maintaining what Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore have called a "godless Constitution".
Furthermore, the inclusion of “under God” essentially relegates the 30 million non-theists and millions of other non-Christians in America to “second-class citizenship.” In 1987, Bush said: “No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.” And it’s a frighteningly small step from ‘second-class citizenship’ to labor camps and gas chambers.
Think I’m over-reacting to this issue? Try this: “...try substituting ‘under Buddha’ or ‘under Allah,’ or ‘under Krishna,’ and repeat the Pledge of Allegiance.” Still comfortable saying it in public?
Yeah, I didn't think so.
So, thanks a lot, Reverend. Thanks for butting in where you didn’t belong and helping to screw up the one country on this planet that—for almost 200 years—was trying its best to treat all religions equally.
[NOTE: Go here to help restore the Pledge Of Allegiance to its original wording.]
Absurd
You speak from almost complete ignorance. The founding document is the Declaration of Independence. Because it asserted that the rights of man emanate from the Creator, they are not subject to Government, but, in fact, higher obligations that bind Government. We ONLY have individual rights because government's claims are inferior to God's.
The Constitution emphasized this concept by explicitly forbidding Government to do anything not specifically delegated to it by the people AND, in the Bill of Rights, the Federal Government was forbidden to make any law that would restrict, regulate or control religious institutions. The first amendment protects religion from government and asserts the right of all individuals, regardless of creed, to influence government through speech. The idea that religious institutions (or any institutions) are prohibited from political activity is the exact opposite of the Constitution.
We disagree.
I will grant you that the Bill of Rights wasn't technically a "founding document" (although, it was ratified a mere 4 years later and so it COULD be argued that it was, when viewed from a modern perspective). And that I may have inserted my personal belief that all religious people should be prevented from having even the slightest impact on government of this country. But your unfounded assertion that "We ONLY have individual rights because government's claims are inferior to God's" is no less opinionated and absurd to me. The First Amendment ONLY says: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." That's it. Nothing about "government's claim's are inferior to God's" anywhere in there.
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