City Council Nixes National Prayer

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Yes, the POA is no longer part of this Minnesota City Council's Meetings. I guess everyone will have to pray at home now.

Minnesota city council has voted unanimously to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance

Good idea.

[bilby]

Pledges of allegiance are a characteristic of totalitarian dictatorships. Free people don't make such pledges, and people who make and abide by such pledges are not free.

(People who make, but do not abide by, such pledges are just liars).

[ideologyhunter]

I wouldn't say liars. I'd say mumblers. The Pledge is about as meaningful as the "Have a nice days" that every day is full of. It is stupid, but it's enshrined. It's a cause for thoughtless people to get self-righteous and crazy about, in many a situation. I taught school, so it was a Monday morning ritual. The sing-songy way that we say the Pledge, breaking it into 7 rhythmic subsections, makes it even more inane and rote. BTW try to find a grade school student who can define 'allegiance'. Still I agree with post #2 that it's not a fit sentiment for a citizen of a 'free' society.

[James Brown]

BTW try to find a grade school student who can define 'allegiance'.

I would imagine 'indivisible' would give some of them pause.

[ideologyhunter]

They probably assume that the U.S. is a prime number.

[Treedbear]

Kids don't think about what it means. I remember reciting "I pledge of allegiance to the flag ...".

[ideologyhunter]

Me too! I also remember wondering why the letter after K had such a long name: Elemento.

[Keith&Co.]

I used to enjoy asking other kids questions like 'Why is the word 'democrat' in the pledge, but not 'republican'?' or 'I wonder how many people that say the pledge actually know what 'fidelity' means when they say it?'
Then watch their face go blank for a moment, as they could not tell you if the word was in the pledge until they had run through the entire pledge in their head.

I tried it once in the Navy, thinking those guys SURELY would have thought about the pledge before enlisting.
Nope. Same glazed eyes, ten second pause...

[bilby]

Me too! I also remember wondering why the letter after K had such a long name: Elemento.

I was an adult before I heard the US alphabet song - the UK one is completely different, and has a 3-3-5 scheme, repeated twice.

It came as some surprise to me that you run LMNOP together, until I realised that the poor scansion was necessary to accommodate your weird pronunciation of the letter Zed, which we rhyme with 'M', thereby splitting the alphabet neatly in half, while you desperately race through the middle looking for a plausible rhyme with 'Zee'.

[skepticalbip]

Me too! I also remember wondering why the letter after K had such a long name: Elemento.

I was an adult before I heard the US alphabet song - the UK one is completely different, and has a 3-3-5 scheme, repeated twice.

It came as some surprise to me that you run LMNOP together, until I realised that the poor scansion was necessary to accommodate your weird pronunciation of the letter Zed, which we rhyme with 'M', thereby splitting the alphabet neatly in half, while you desperately race through the middle looking for a plausible rhyme with 'Zee'.

i hadn't heard the British alphabet song so, out of curiosity, I did a Youtube search to hear what it sounded like. The Brits must have been infected by Yankinza and changed it since you were in school there. The version I found ran LMNOP together like their cousins across the pond... although it is, as a whole, different.