For so many years I've been hearing the arguments regarding the Pledge of Allegiance in the classrooms of our schools. I remember when I was in school (yes, it was a long long time ago) we always began our day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. There wasn't a debate about it, there wasn't an uproar about it, it was just something that we did. After all, this is America right? And what could be more American than reciting the Pledge to our flag?
But for the past few years, even decades there has been a move by certain faiths to not say the Pledge of Allegiance in the schools, because it includes the word "God," and this, they say, is offensive to other religions, or to those who don't have a religion, or to those who just don't believe in God.
I suppose I could see their point. I am Jewish, and throughout my childhood I always had a problem being in the Christmas programs at school. I was forced to sing songs about something I didn't believe in and felt a little smaller because my classmates could sing these songs with great joy. As a father, I felt the same way when my children were put in the same situation having to sing 10 songs about Christmas with their one token Hanukkah song. So I could empathize with those who didn't believe in God being forced to say something that included God in the words.
Today we have this huge debate raging regarding the Pledge of Allegiance in our schools. On one side you have the "non-believers" of God and on the other side you mainly the Christians who demand that this country was founded on Christian values and we are indeed "one nation under God." The debate has gotten so out of hand, that our own government is actually considering removing the word "God" from the Pledge altogether.
My problem is, that this has become the focus of the debate: God or no God.
Today, while I am still very much Jewish, I am also a believer in Yeshua (the Hebrew name of Jesus) my Messiah. I spend most of my time studying the scriptures, praying and coming into a relationship with God which I feel is what He most desperately wants from us. Through my discussions with my congregation I happened upon this topic of the debate of saying the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom and the focus of the debate of whether we should take God out of the Pledge or not. Our discussion really didn't last too long, as we all believe in God and there is no question that a nation following God was much better off than a nation which doesn't follow God.
At this point in time I posed another question to the group: Is the debate over the Pledge focusing on the correct topic? As stated earlier, the current focus is on whether or not to take God out of the Pledge, but my thought is: Should we even be pledging our allegiance to a flag at all, or should we be pledging our allegiance to God?
I could see the bewilderment in everyone's eyes that I may have struck a chord with them. The Bible tells us we cannot serve two masters, and isn't pledging our allegiance to a flag tell us that it is a flag, a symbol, an inanimate object that we dedicate our lives to and not to God? Isn't that idolatry? Even if one argues, "well, it's not really the flag, but the country we are pledging our allegiance to." We are still pledging to something that is not God.
I say it's time the debate be concluded on whether or not to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance and instead focus our debate on whether or not we should be forced to say the Pledge at all. We should pledge our allegiance to God and not to a piece of cloth or even to a country. Isn't that just like the enemy to focus us so tightly on a word in a pledge when we, as followers of God, should be pledging our lives to Him?
I pledge my allegiance to God Almighty. I pledge that I will live by His teachings and praise Him day and night. I pledge that my works will benefit mankind and not destroy mankind. I pledge that my faith in Him is unshakable and that He is my rock and my redeemer. I pledge a life dedicated to the Word of God and to live my life by the example of His Son, Yeshua, who died for me, so that I may live. I pledge to pray for others so that the blessings of God may fall on them and that they too may praise God's holy name. I pledge that one day I will see all of the people of this world someday say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD."
That my friends is my Pledge of Allegiance. I don't intend to push this on the schools, because this is a personal pledge, and I pray that you also take this pledge. I pray that one day we could can look beyond the minute details that the enemy throws in our camp, and instead focus on the love that there is in world. I pray that some day we can all stop trying to be right and we can start being righteous.
Shalom!
