dtucker300 wrote:
I am not sure as many do today as in the past. I don't hear the pledge recited before many public meetings. Go to a ballgame and watch how many fail to take their hat off during the National Anthem.
I am assuming you are a citizen of the United States.
You decide whether you want to take the oath or not. You have the liberty to do so.
With that said, it is the Constitution that gives you that freedom.
It is the Constitution that establishes the Republic, that establishes the flag, that establishes the pledge and the oaths.
Know this: the Flag is an important tool for soldiers in the field. In the hell, of war, the flag lets soldiers know where they stand on the field. If the flag pushes forward, the soldiers rally behind the flag and win the battle subsequently the war. The flag is nothing without the Constitution.
The Constitution provides a means of survival for our people to live. It is best said in the preamble of the Constitution which states:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Freedom in democracy has a tendency of becoming mob rule. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and Ben Franklin, demonstrated this by examining Ancient Israel. You can see this in the contrast if you read the bible, in the books of Exodus, Joshua, Judges, Kings, and Chronicles.
Apart from ancient Israel, Hamilton, Madison, and Franklin, show the failures of the Greek city-states, and the flaws in Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Where freedom and justice were highly regarded in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Israel, Athens, Sparta, Marathon and eventually Rome.
Julius Caesar, who did not want to become king, established a system of justice that forms the current justice system of today. Caesar established a court that when used with Israels version of the court, and applied with the philosophy of the accused being innocent until proven guilty, thus came the construct of the United States Constitution. Read the Federalist Papers, especially Hamilton, who wrote about these mistakes of empires, and nations past.
The founders, Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Monroe and the father of the Constitution himself, Madison, did a great analysis of great empires of the past.
In the ages were the Constitution works the best is when the function of the people, which are part of the government, the most important part, works in unison to drive the government. When the people become complacent which Franklin and Hamilton warn us against, then the government enters into tyranny.
The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, establishes the president to change the government should they become tyrants. It is the right of the people, to change the government should the government become too powerful. Who are the people? We are the people.
Between the writings of Thomas Jefferson, and the 77 men who established the Declaration of Independence, along with James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Ben Franklin, we have established Human Rights, We established freedom for all, and Justice for all.
No other system in the world of Men, could destroy the system of this Republic! If you are an American citizen, and are unsure to whether take the pledge or oath or both, I recommend you read the Federalist Papers, then research American History.
Every problem the world faced, can be solved by and probably was solved by the United States. We who "hold these truths self-evident" that all "men are created equal, who are endowed by their Creator, certain inalienable rights, that among these right are life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. "
Governments of the past, from Medieval Europe, to the Roman Empire, to the Persian Empire, to the Empire of Babylon and the Syrian Empire. From the Mongol and Mongolian Empires. From the Empires and dynasties of Japan and China. From the Russian Empire in the north, and the Ethiopian, Arabian, and Muslim Empires to the south. Only one nation under God, has embraced the principles and philosophies of God, Himself.
Hamilton found with the ancient Greek City-States that democracy, direct democracy fails. Years later, Carol Marx, wrote the "Communist Manifesto" by establishing a system based in the Roman Catholic Church. The system in the Church is held together by faith, and under that faith, the system works. A system of Communitism. However, Lenin read that book of Marx and overthrew the Czar, and instituted a system based in greed. He established the Constitution of the USSR. And in their 80 somewhat history the USSR failed because of the warning set forth in the United States Federalist papers.
We are the greatest nation in the world, and what makes us great is our free will joining others of similar will and withholding the rule of law. Once we establish the rule of law, we can then defend that law. Wyatt Earp was famous in defending the law. He brought the accused to justice in a fair way. Robert Kennedy as Attorney General of the United States did the same.
Today we live in a nation that has not forgotten these principles, but does not see the need to defend them. Then the wolves and snakes come in and want to control every aspect of human life. So the eagle must remove these snakes and wolves and stand true to the freedom we know of.
Human beings may or may not be able to agree with one another, but what we have found in our 200 year history is that Human beings can live in peace. We need to embrace that. A first step in doing so, is to pledge allegience to the Country. This country is your home, there is no other like it.
We are angels and devils. We live free as we choose fit. Do you take the oath and pledge?