The Omnibus

Issue date: 5/6/04 Section: The Forum

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The battle over the words "under God" hit another dramatic point when Democratic House of Representative's leader Jim McDermott left the phrase out as he led the House in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance April 27, 2004.

Some blame the removal of "under God" on liberals in the government. I can assure you, not all liberals want the Pledge to be changed. I have liberal tendencies and I can tell you that liberals love Jesus too. The world is changing and Christians have got to stand their ground.

At my high school, we would recite the Pledge every morning before classes started. One of my teachers would deliberately leave out "under God" because she was not a Christian. It was her right as an American citizen to do that. As an American, and more importantly, as a Christian I too had rights. I had the right, no, the obligation to pray for her. Furthermore I would always make sure that my voice was raised when I came to that part of the Pledge and constantly spoke about my faith when in that teacher's class. We have to choose our battles wisely; sometimes we cannot always go running into a situation waving our Bibles over our heads.

In the end, it is less about those two words and more about how we respond to them. Sometimes all it means is continuing to say the Pledge the way it was written. We can be models in this world or we can be political antagonists. I suggest the former. I also challenge you to say the Pledge with great gusto, letting everyone know that you support "under God" being kept in the Pledge Of Allegiance.  All it takes is one person going against the grain to make changes. Jesus did it. Now it is up to us.

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