Bush adds "under God" to Getysburg Address
Posted on: February 1, 2008 - 1:22pm
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Bush adds "under God" to Getysburg Address
Here is the text from the Abraham Lincoln webpage from whitehouse.gov:
Quote:
Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Now here is the text from the actual document from ourdocuments.gov:
Quote:
that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Interesting, huh?
I mentioned this all the way back in 2004 on my own weblog and I have yet to get any news outfit or atheist group interested in this revisionist garbage.
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What? We were never at war with Eurasia. Everyone knows that they've always been our ally.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
He's getting us ready for more wars where God is on our side. Same thing happened back in the 1950s when 'under God' and 'In God we trust' prepared the nation to go into Vietnam because how could we lose if God was on our side.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address#Usage_of_.22under_God.22
interesting topic...
The controversy started in 1863
From
http://www.randi.org/jr/101003.html
and
People who think there is something they refer to as god don't ask enough questions.
Apparently, this is not the only controversy about words demonstrating Lincolns Theism or Atheism:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/28/070528fa_fact_gopnik
I think Lincoln believed in "God of the gaps". In his time, you could not be atheist and still have a career or enter politics(not much has changed).
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
Actually, it's changed a lot. The word "atheist" wasn't thrown around like it is today, but many important individuals either dismissed theism offhand or insulted it publicly. [edited for clarity and accuracy]
It's true that there weren't really many scientific answers to all the gaps. We know a lot more today. It was basically acceptable to envision some kind of god filling the gaps, and that is what most people did, but many of the foremost thinkers of the times were deists. In other words, they recognized that Christianity wasn't true, and couldn't think of anything useful to say about god, so they just left it as, "I dunno... god, maybe?"
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/
Books about atheism
I could be wrong, but our armed conflict in Vietnam did not begin in the 1950's, but rather in 1964 or 1965. Seems like an awfully long time to keep the public aware that God is on our side. In addition, the escalation was taken upon by Johnson, who cared little for foreign politics, but felt that he had to carry on the legacy of Kennedy.
If this was a conspiracy to get America ready to take on the Communists in Vietnam, it would have to span three presidents, two parties, and convert a man from domestic to foreign politics.
"In god we trust" appeard on some, not all coins, in the late 1800s. "In God We Trust" and "Under God|" became the revisionists motto in the mainstreem of the 1950s as a result of the paranoia of the "godless" commies at the hight of the cold war.
Frances Belhemy(sp), who wrote the pledge was asked almost emediately after he wrote it(for what amounted at the time, a boyscout troup) to incert a referance to god in it. He refused saying that the pledge was for everyone, not just Christians. His decendants testified to congress when it was proposed to incert "under God", begging them not to do it. Belhemy was a Baptist minister and a socialist.
"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
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The seeds for the Vietnam conflict were sown in irrational religious thinking of the 1950's.
The 'under god' was put in when the cold war with the Soviets was under way in the 1950s. Basically war propaganda to justify spending tons of money on the military. The moronic public believed it was a good because God was on our side against the enemies of God(the Communists).
So you had the military-industrial complex ready to make tons of money off the war. Military and intelligence services convinced the evil enemy was up to global domination, so it made up stories like the Gulf of Tonkin. You had a Christian public convinced the government was doing the work of God in fighting the communists. Hence the Vietnam war. The fruit of irritation and religious thinking.
That is why I want god out of the government and military. The war on Islamic terrorism can only be won with rational thinking. We don't need 'God is on our side' and 'we're doing God's work' crap.
We should have a huge advantage over the Islamics because the are so religious. This causes them to often make tactical and strategic errors because they think Allah will help them no matter what strategy they take. If the USA falls into the same trap of believing a Christian god is on our side, I'm afraid this war will just lead to terrible death and destruction around the globe. The thinking people of the world can no longer tolerate religion influencing governments, our survival depends on no superstitious thinking.
P.S. I am no fan of Communism. Communism is making the state and it's leaders god. Just as bad as an imaginary supernatural god.
Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success. --Mark Skousen
What seeds exactly are you referring to. We had military advisors in Vietnam by 1950. True escalation did not occur until the Kennedy and Johnson administration. These two events bookend the Eisenhower presidency, during which the words "under God" were added. I see no reason to blame the addition of these words into the Pledge of Allegiance for causing the Vietnam War.
So basically, you are asserting that had we kept the words "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance, we never would have gone to war in Vietnam?
Regardless, you are ignoring the personlities involved in the war in Vietnam. First, Kennedy, who began the escalation of the war. He was assassinated, and Johnson took over. This was followed by the true outbreak of hostilites. Kennedy was a foreign policy president. He revelled in dealing internationally. Johnson, on the other hand, was a domestic president. He had specific domestic goals that he wanted implemented.
Kennedy was an extremely popular president, and when Johnson succeeded him, Johnson felt that if he abandoned Kennedy's initiatives, he would be rejected by the people. So he decided to continue Kennedy's programs. This included the conflict in Vietnam. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was clearly not a real attack, but was also probably not orchestrated by Johnson, Johnson felt that he need to retaliate, and the war as we know it began.
I would like to see examples of these "tactical and strategic errors" that are caused by a belief in Allah.