I reject the Pledge of Allegiance for two primary reasons: the stereotypical atheist’s “under god” and the line about “with liberty and justice for all”. Both these statements amount to nothing more than bullshit.

Let’s start with the under god part. It wasn’t even originally there. I’ll even quote the original incarnation of it:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

No reference to God. I mean the United States isn’t even founded on religious principals. Other than that issue, this form of the pledge is almost okay. Almost. Except for that one inaccuracy. Liberty and justice for all? When did that happen? It clearly is not in effect in America. We still have race issues, sexism, and bigotry. The greatest example of this in justice is the ban on gay marriage. How is that encompassing everybody’s right to liberty and justice? It isn’t. So I choose not to say the Pledge.

Some people say that my refusal to recite what is loosely a public prayer is anti-american. That simply is not true. I am proud of my country (generally) and I always stand up. Those who refuse to even stand when the Pledge is being recited are being disrespectful and rude. Instead I just stand there in silence whenever the oppurtunity occurs. Maybe one day we will have a society that not only promotes, but has liberty, justice and equality for all its citizens. On that day, I’ll be happy to say the Pledge. Minus the Under God of course.

For today’s daily picture, its actually a video. You might have already seen this over at DamnedifGodExists.

Not only is it funny as hell, it brings up a good point. As an atheist, I do NOT want to see the Pledge changed to be like this. I don’t want our money to say “In science we trust”. I simply want these clearly religious phrases to be stricken. They were not original parts of currency or the Pledge for that matter. As an atheist I am offended to carry around money proclaiming there is a God to Trust. I always sharpie it off my money. Removing it is not implying there is no God, it is respecting my beliefs and yours by not declaring any of them.

I guess I would call myself a militant atheist. I more than disagree with religion, I am an active enemy of it. I mean look at this blog here. I try to spread truth and open eyes. This doesn’t mean we won’t have disagreements. In fact, I like it when even atheists disagree. Not all atheists have to be pro-choice or support gay marriage. Many do, such as myself, but it isn’t a requirement. Atheists are a very diverse group. Agnostics too. Agnosticism is essentially a weak form of atheism and I fully support them as well. They are no longer slaves to the god of Abraham. Here are some things that I think qualify me as a militant atheist:

• I won’t recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
• I sharpie God off ALL my bills. (I still carry change though….)
• I’m not afraid to tell anybody I am an atheist
• I’m happy to point out you are a dumb ass for believing in (insert crazy theory: creationism, sin, God, etc.)
• I take every chance I can to promote atheism in the public.
• I run a blog about atheism
• I deny the Holy Spirit.

That’s all I can think of right now. Post some other ideas, I’m sure you have more thoughts about this.