Unknown Indonesian artist from Central Java:
God Ganesha, Remover of Obstacles (9th/10th century)

"…no enforcement mechanism other than the usual tacit coercion has yet been codified into statute. Yet."

Perhaps the definitive element of American citizenship lies in its relationship to God. (I've thoughtfully included a picture of a prominent god above, the Hindu god Ganesha, Remover of Obstacles so that we can share a visual example of a prominent god.) "Real" Americans believe themselves to operate "Under God," as stated in the amended Pledge of Allegiance to our flag. The author of the pledge originally proposed it as an antidote to the influence of immigration from Southern Europe, which was popularly believed to be threatening to dilute genuine American values. He intended schoolchildren to recite it, and it contained no mention of God.

The Federal Government standardized the pledge during WWII, but it still held no reference to God. It wasn't until the second Red Scare, circa 1954, that a Republican legislator introduced a bill to officially include "God" in the pledge. A prominent clergyman of the time, a Reverend George Docherty at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., was said to have significantly influenced President Eisenhower's ideas on the subject. “To omit the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance is to omit the definitive factor in the American way of life,” Docherty preached. He discounted the right of atheists to object, arguing that an “atheistic American is a contradiction in terms,” because if “you deny the Christian ethic, you fall short of the American ideal of life.”

And so we find ourselves today, still trying to Christianize a state whose constitution explicitly insists upon the separation of church and state. It seems to this observer that some people can't imagine living under anything other than the influence of a powerful despot, for, unlike Genesha, the popularly imagined Christian God, the one referred to as over those pledging allegiance to our flag, is a genuine son of a bitch. "He" seems capricious, vengeful, anything but just, though occasionally reportedly compassionate. He's characterized as withholding his infinite love under certain conditions and also heartlessly damning under others. More often described as a thunder and lightning god than the one overseeing hummingbirds. He's a "you'd better" sort of supervisor people live in fear of. Oh, and you'd better love him unconditionally, or else!

What a curious reference for a freedom-loving country to adopt as a symbol of reverence. I gnaw on the inside of my cheek every time someone calls for the ritual recitation of this little abomination. I comply lest I be perceived as something other than patriotic, even though I do not subscribe to the patriotic ethic. Such public displays smack of public prayer, and the coercion involved in demanding that "all rise" probably ensures that some significant portion of those rising will feel coerced and therefore offended by the insistent invitation from which they know they are not free to decline, at the very least, by pretending to engage. Damn them!

The notion that we're a Christian nation belies the very foundation of what kind of nation our founders envisioned. Supreme Court cases have repeatedly ruled that it's not illegal coercion to insist that people recite the pledge together in public because those opposed to the practice remain perfectly free to abstain if they choose. Just like every professional football player remains free to kneel during the national anthem rather than reverently stand with their right hand held over their heart. No better thug magnet has ever been devised than publicly displaying a lack of reverence toward our flag. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that pledging allegiance to a flag represents worship, and therefore, they will not worship any flag. I just think it's unreasonably coercive and pretend to comply.

I could see myself pledging allegience (whatever that might entail) to the flag of a United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under Ganesha, infinitely divisible, and thereby holding the potential for liberty and justice for all, especially those we might believe do not deserve liberty or justice, such as those almost completely unlike us.

There's a Federal law and ample precedent governing this worship of the flag, though no enforcement mechanism other than the usual tacit coercion has yet been codified into statute. Yet.

©2025 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #FollowingChapters, #PureSchmaltz