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Flag Burning and other disturbing behaviors


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Flag burning is , I seem to hear , either a very extreme form of protest or an extreme form of respect, depending on the context. And context is always an important consideration in making a judgement.

Question: What sort of person (that is to say, why) would not recite the "Pledge of Allegiance" during the usual flag ceremony? And how would you react to such?

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There are a variety of reasons why someone might choose not to recite the pledge.

 

1. religious reasons - some groups believe that it is improper to recite a loyalty oath (and that's really what the pledge is) that appears to put fealty to country on par with fealty to G-d.

 

2. other religious reasons - some people object to the "under G-d" portion of the pledge, as currently written, and choose to either stay silent for those two words, or not to say the pledge at all.

 

3. citizens of other countries who are part of a US scout group.

 

Lisa'bob

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And how would I react? Quite simply, I probably would not as long as the people in question were respectful of those who were reciting the pledge. I'm proud of my flag and my country. But if other people feel it is inappropriate for them personally to recite the pledge then that's their business. Attempts to compel speech, by peer pressure, ridicule, or harrassment, are likely to fail, both in form and substance.

 

Lisa'bob

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Come on now, it hasn't been THAT long ago for 'Life of Brian'. I remember well the religious faction protesting the movie, trying to keep it away from our area. One scene that struck me was the one where the alien space craft whisked him away for a short flight just before they crashed in the same area as all the crackpot prophets. The people didn't even seem to notice the aliens but instead remained focused on the crackpots. Close to real life in some ways.

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I don't know from which Hebrew word "God" is transcribed, but in English, isn't the word "God" a title and not a name?

 

If I recall, there are many, many names for the Judeo-Christian-Islamic deity, such as Adonai, YHWH, Jehovah, (and dozens of others) not to mention later appelations such as Allah.

 

Maybe someone else knows more about this...?

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I just typed in god.com and a rather unsophisticated site came up. Then jehova.org came up for sale and jehova.com was still under construction, probably after many more than six days - but spelling it correctly by adding the 'h' came up with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Yaweh.com also led me to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Just putting a little modern varnish on the old idea... ;)

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Thanks for that clarification Ed, 'cause I can see that nobody would have had the foggiest notion about whom or what I was talking otherwise...

 

FWIW I am not Jewish but I was raised to believe that one should not spell out the full name (or title or whatever) of the higher being to whom we are most likely referring here. This, I was taught, was a sign of respect as well as an indication that mere mortal humans cannot possibly know the nature of our deity. You may or may not buy that and I really don't have a problem with your view Ed (and anybody else). But you may find that deeply religious people come to different conclusions and I hardly think it is productive to berate them for not taking your view on the matter.

 

Lisa'bob

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I feel it is more disrespectful to us G-d than God, L-sa. Usually, words vulgarity is depicted that way in forums and I don't consider God a vulgar word. How would you spell Jesus? Holy Spirit?

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

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