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Dec. 11, 2004 Mind and body, tooth and nail, arrogance and ignorance, conjoined twins all. I don’t know about others, but I for one am bored to the point of irritation. The whining and harping, the teeth gnashing and hair-shirt mentality of progressive, secular complainants are trying my sense of humor. These arrogant people, some here on U-K, beat their chest mightily and shed their crocodile tears. They attack, dismiss and degrade traditions held most noble in this magnificent country. Some are so incredibly arrogant, their ignorance is indescribable. One example is a sixteen-year-old boy who is articulate and writes rather well for someone his age. This young man wrote an article titled “‘Under God’ In The Pledge is an Insult to Atheists.” The title, in and of itself is a form of oxymoron. How, I wonder, could you insult an Atheist by using the word “God?” An Atheist doesn’t believe in a God. Why then would he/she be offended? Why should 82.7% of the U.S., who believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God by the way, dismiss their beliefs? If 17.3% of Americans have a problem saying “Under God” then for the love of Mike don’t say it--Ask me if I care. As if to showcase his indescribable ignorance the youngster proudly proclaims he is biased. He states: “I am an Atheist and have been so since I was ten years old.” Three years past the age of reason and this young man has already solved the mystery of the human species. The arrogance displayed is fascinating. Picture if you will a short story, bound carefully within beautiful leather covers. The story is only seventy-five pages, give or take a few. A giant intellect opens the book and reads the first ten pages. The genius knows after ten pages exactly how and why the story was written. His certainty is of course without doubt. Further he can identify, describe, analyze and explain the forces that created the story. After sixteen pages this omniscient intellect knows every detail about the story. He can predict the sub-plots; identify the interactions of all forces upon the main plot. As mind-boggling as it may seem, this possessor of fantastic intelligence can describe the ending. Pretty great stuff, eh? Incredible arrogance, indescribable ignorance. Another man, Robert Paul Reyes, proclaims “The Pledge of Allegiance Has Outlived Its Usefullness.” This man is a columnist for the Lynchburg Ledger, but has trouble spelling Usefulness. Well, maybe just a typo and poor proof reading. Mr. Reyes is another of the incredibly arrogant folks whining about America’s traditions. Mr. Reyes’ arrogance transcends common sense, however. He tells us, minus one iota of chagrin, “Only a person steeped in orthodoxy could have written such a paean (fancy word for praise) to conformity. He tells us this in reference to the Pledge of Allegiance and its creator Francis Bellamy. Mr. Reyes treads the familiar path of the progressive secularist, half fact, half truth. His incredible arrogance leads him to believe those reading his sterling pronouncements are as indescribably ignorant as he is--a case in point. Francis Bellamy was a “Christian Socialist.” A Baptist minister, he wrote the Pledge based on ideas voiced by his first cousin, Edward Bellamy. Edward was the author of two American Socialist utopian novels, “Looking Backward,” offered in 1888 and “Equality,” in 1897. Francis Bellamy was defrocked by his church for preaching Socialist political theory from his pulpit. With the exception of three refinements, however, his Pledge of Allegiance stands today. I don’t know why Mr. Reyes failed to report this minor fact to his readership. He opines that Mr. Bellamy was “steeped in orthodoxy.” A free thinker couldn’t have written such a “paean to conformity.” Mr. Reyes is correct without doubt. Mr. Bellamy was indeed “steeped” and he did “sing the praises” of conformity. “Socialist Conformity.” Arrogance is dangerous. It can have consequences for those around us, but in the end it does more damage to the individual affected. Arrogance breeds ignorance because a closed mind is always supported by self-importance. Our young sixteen- year-old can be forgiven the arrogance of youth. Mr. Reyes, however, has no such excuse. As a “Columnist for the Lynchburg Ledger” this man has a duty as a journalist to speak the truth. Not the truth as he knows it, but the plain, unvarnished truth supported by fact. If he, or anyone else writing for the eye of the populous wish to opine, by all means, bloviate to your hearts content. Have the common decency to state: “the following is my OPINION.” Lastly, I can’t close this piece without taking Mr. Reyes to task on some of his other more ridiculous pronouncements. He “imagines multitudes of children mindlessly pledging their allegiance to a flag and to a country in Soviet Russia (which doesn’t exist), Saddam’s Iraq (doesn’t exist), or Arafat’s Palestine (Never existed). If these places did exist as Nations the children, as well as the adults, would not be pledging allegiance mindlessly. They would SWEAR their allegiance or be murdered forthwith. In that same paragraph Mr. Reyes states “but not in a democracy--not in America. Hard to believe, but our journalist is wrong again. America was founded and remains a REPUBLIC. A Republic is defined as 1. A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them 2. A form of government whose head of state is not a monarch. A DEMOCRACY is defined as 1. The political orientation of those who favor government by the people or by their elected representatives 2. A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them 3. The doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group. So, as you can see America is a REPUBLIC which uses DEMOCRATIC means to create its government. There are so many ignorant statements in Mr. Reyes article I could overload the Website’s server. In closing I will mention just two others. First I would challenge Mr. Reyes to produce one child who has been COERCED into reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Further, if Mr. Reyes is “as patriotic as the next guy,” God help us. Mr. Reyes is apparently unaware the Pledge is recited to the flag as a symbol of THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS. Lastly, I would like to say this to you, Mr. Reyes. I wish you’d explain how “unseemly” it is to show devotion to the United States of America. Please tell the 1200+ men and women who have died in Iraq. I wish you’d advise the families and friends, to their face, how “unseemly” it was for their loved ones to show the ULTIMATE DEVOTION. When you’re done with that, Mr. Reyes, I wish you’d do the same to the dead and maimed; all 9000 of them that exhibited their DEVOTION to America with the Invasion of Normandy on D-Day. Better yet, Mr. Reyes, please stand tall, your arrogance displayed for all to see. Loudly proclaim your distain for America’s traditions. Hock a big goober and give a loud guffaw at the graves of the 1,180,000+ men and women, old and young who have died giving DEVOTION AND ACTING IN DEFENSE of this BLESSED PLACE we call THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Let us all see just how patriotic you and that "next guy" pretend to be. That’s my opinion. It’s the only one I’m qualified to give. ------------ About the author James B. Bergstad: I've explored this planet for sixty-six years. For the most part it's been a blast. I now indulge my passions of reading, writing and painting. My novel "Hyde's Corner" is awaiting publication. It is a taut period/drama set in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Sheriff Selmer Burks presides over the destruction of three families and the corruption of Hyde's Corner. Email: captflash@astound.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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