You know the kind. They've been emailed by everyone in the known universe to everyone else in the known universe . . . twice . . . on all the days of the week ending in 'y'. Normally I read and delete but this one just plain annoyed me. Don't get me wrong. I'm not really annoyed with the person who sent it to me. I'm just royally ticked off at the person who started it. Before I say more, here it is:
DON'T BUY PEPSI IN THE NEW CAN
Don't buy Pepsi in the new can. Pepsi has a new "patriotic" can coming out with pictures of the Empire State Bldg. and the Pledge of Allegiance on them. However, Pepsi left out two little words on the pledge, "Under God". Pepsi said they did not want to offend anyone. If this is true, then we don't want to offend anyone at the Pepsi corporate office. If we do not buy any Pepsi product, they will not be offended when they receive our money that has the words " In God we trust " on it.
HOW FAST CAN YOU FORWARD THIS ONE???
How fast can I forward this one? At the speed of never, thank you for asking. I don't actually drink Pepsi so I have no idea if Pepsi is or has produced a can as described or what Pepsi's motives are for doing whatever it is they did or didn't, will or won't do. What I do know is that the words "under God" were not - let me repeat that - the words "under God" were not in the Pledge of Allegiance as originally penned in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, nor were they in there in 1945 when the pledge was officially recognized as a symbol of the U. S. It was not until 1954 that the words were added by Congress at the petition of the Knights of Columbus. The words were added to distinguish god-fearing America from the atheist Soviet Union during the height of the Red Scare fueled by McCarthy and his ilk.
When all is said and done, bottom line, those two words have nothing to do with God or divinity by whatever word you choose to use. They are the by-product of a witch hunt that ruined countless lives and fostered an attitude of hostility, prejudice, and persecution that is still alive and well today. But we're no longer hunting pinko commies. We're going after anyone who dares to have an opinion contrary to whatever the Bandwagon Opinion of the Week is. We're going after people who dare to ask 'why' and who won't settle for 'because' as an answer. Phrased the way it is, that email is nothing more than petty hate mail. It earns the original scribe nothing more than my contempt.
And having ranted like a lunatic raving at the moon, let me leave you with one last thought . . .
Do you know what salute was originally intended to be used when saying the Pledge of Allegiance?
Yes?
No?
Let me give you a hint . . . it was similar to one used to salute an Austrian man who came to power in Germany.
3 comments:
Hey Seitherin,
Did I send you that one? I just love your responses to those kind of emails - such intelligence and I get a history lesson. Oh yeah check out my site - I think I finally remembered how to copy and paste in html (?) stuff.
Twasn't you sent it. Twas your sister. I've gotten this one a couple of times from different people, and I've gotten some very similar to this one. They all just irk the hell out of me, so, having a forum in which to do it, I finally decided to say something.
Okay, here's the deal...I know that "under God" was not in the original pledge. I know it was added during the McCarthy witch hunt to distinguish us from "those stinking atheist pinko commies." I know all that! But it said "under God" when I learned it, and I don't want it changed. And I'm sick to death of all the people who think that separation of church and state means that every reference to God--any God--must be removed from every public, government-sponsored arena. I'm also sick to death of all these "let's boycott ____________" (Fill in the blank) because of some lame rumor. So sue me!!
C. J.
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