Pledge of Allegiance, a Product of a Socialist By Rex Curry for more visit http://RexCurry.net
There are few
people who realize that when they pledge allegiance to the flag they recite
a pledge written in 1892 by a socialist, to promote socialism in the most
socialistic institution -government schools.
That's an issue in the pledge debate that pre-dates the insertion of
"under God" in 1954.
The pledge of allegiance was authored by the self-proclaimed socialist Francis
Bellamy. Bellamy was the first cousin of the famous American socialist, Edward
Bellamy. Edward Bellamy's futuristic novel, "Looking Backward," published
in 1888, described a utopian Boston in the year 2000.
The book spawned an elitist socialist movement in Boston known as "Nationalism,"
whose members wanted the federal government to nationalize most of the American
economy. Francis Bellamy was a member of this movement and a vice president
of its socialist auxiliary group.
Bellamy had often lectured on the so-called "virtues of socialism and the
evils of capitalism." In 1891, he was forced to resign from his church because
of his socialist activities. He then joined the staff of the magazine "Youth's
Companion" and wrote the pledge of allegiance. The original salute to
the stars and stripes was an outstretched hand, much like the salute of the "National Socialist Worker's
Party of Germany." After the National Socialist German Workers' Party demonstrated full blown socialism, the
U.S. flag salute changed to the modern hand over the heart.
There is something more disturbing than all of the above: Most
children are never told any of the preceding history in government
schools, though each day often includes a collective recital of the
pledge.
No one would trust the government to tell you the truth if it ran the newspapers.
Why would anyone expect the government to tell children the truth in government
schools? As Libertarians say: The separation of school and state is as important
as the separation of church and state. And that is the real solution to the
pledge debate and all other school issues: remove government from education.
Rex Curry is an attorney based in Tampa, and can be reached at
rexy@ij.net
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