{"id":5349,"date":"2017-11-30T13:34:25","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T19:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5349"},"modified":"2017-11-30T13:34:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T19:34:25","slug":"i-pledge-allegiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2017\/11\/30\/i-pledge-allegiance\/","title":{"rendered":"I Pledge Allegiance…"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Haedge<\/strong>
\nCan a Christian recite the Pledge of Allegiance?\u00a0<\/span>
\nAlong with so many others in the public school system in America, I clearly remember\u00a0the school bell ringing and the teacher asking the class to stand for the pledge.\u00a0We all faced the flag of the United States of America, placed our right hand over our heart and in unison recited the following words with pride:\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cI pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/span>
\nFor a short period of my youth, I was also a Boy Scout,\u00a0and\u00a0in addition to the Pledge,\u00a0we had another oath\u00a0that we had to memorize and\u00a0recite as part of being in the Boy Scouts.\u00a0The Boy Scout Oath\u00a0goes\u00a0like this:\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u201cOn my honor I will do my best to do my duty\u00a0to God and my country and to obey the Scout law;\u00a0to\u00a0help other people at all times;\u00a0to keep myself physically strong, mentally\u00a0awake, and morally straight.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>
\nSo does reciting the Pledge\u00a0or the Boy Scout Oath\u00a0conflict with Christianity?\u00a0This is an important question!\u00a0After all, I am a Christian\u00a0first<\/b>\u00a0and I certainly do not want to commit myself to something that is contrary or in conflict with my Christian faith.\u00a0<\/span>
\nI conducted a quick search on the\u00a0Internet to see what others have said on the matter.\u00a0It seemed that the first several hits I received were articles condemning the idea of a Christian reciting the Pledge of\u00a0Allegiance.\u00a0I noticed there were 2 primary objections where some argued\u00a0that\u00a0Scripture\u00a0strictly prohibited reciting the Pledge:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Jesus says we\u00a0should take no oaths at all (Matthew 5:33-37;\u00a0James 5:12)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. We\u00a0are told that we cannot serve two\u00a0masters\u00a0(Matthew 6:24)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Let\u2019s address the first objection.\u00a0In Matthew 5:33-37 we find this teaching from Christ:\u00a0<\/span>
      \n\u00a0<\/i>Again, you have heard that the ancients were told,\u00a0\u201cYou shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.\u201d\u00a0But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by\u00a0Heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be,\u00a0\u201cYes, yes\u201d\u00a0or\u00a0\u201cNo, no\u201d; anything beyond these is of evil\u00a0(NASB).\u00a0<\/span>
      \nThose who use this\u00a0Scripture to say that we cannot recite the Pledge of Allegiance would take this\u00a0Scripture to mean that we cannot take any oath at all in its literal wording.\u00a0However, let\u2019s look at the context of what Jesus is saying.\u00a0He is making clear reference to people swearing by another source to validate that which they are saying is the truth.\u00a0Jesus is simply making the point that it does no good for anyone to swear by Heaven or Earth or\u00a0anything else\u00a0since we have no control over any of them.\u00a0This is why he says,\u00a0\u201c\u2026for you cannot make one hair white or black.\u201d\u00a0The context is with regard to telling the truth.\u00a0A Christian should not be swearing on God\u2019s name or on\u00a0\u201ctheir\u00a0mother\u2019s\u00a0grave\u201d as we often hear.\u00a0This may be familiar to us when we are asked if we took the last cookie from the cookie jar and we respond,\u00a0\u201cI didn\u2019t take it! I swear on the\u00a0Bible, I didn\u2019t take it!\u201d We have all said something similar, and we all probably were guilty of taking the last cookie, which is why we wanted to be so convincing by bringing the\u00a0Bible into our defense.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
      \nThis is exactly what Jesus was warning against!\u00a0\u201cLet your statement be, \u2018Yes, yes\u2019 or \u2018No, no.\u2019\u201d\u00a0Think about it\u2013\u2013if\u00a0you need to make an oath on something else,\u00a0that would inherently suggest that your word alone is not sufficient.\u00a0<\/span>
      \nIf we were to take the statement \u201cmake no oath at all\u201d as to literally mean we cannot make any pledge, oath,\u00a0or promise at all, then as Christians, we would be directly violating Jesus\u2019 teaching every time we sign a check,\u00a0or even when\u00a0we place our signature on a credit card purchase.\u00a0Every time we submit our taxes to the IRS, we\u00a0make an oath that the information is accurate to the best of our knowledge.\u00a0Think about it\u2013\u2013almost every time our signature is required, there is\u00a0some legal verbiage\u00a0that in some form or another is asking us to pledge or promise something.\u00a0<\/span>
      \nIt\u00a0would be\u00a0impossible, practically speaking,\u00a0for a Christian to live in this country without taking an oath\u00a0in some form or another.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
      \nAnd consider\u00a0those of us who are married,\u00a0those of us who\u00a0gave a\u00a0public\u00a0vow to our spouse.\u00a0A vow is really\u00a0no different than\u00a0a pledge or an oath.\u00a0They are all one\u00a0and\u00a0the same.\u00a0Does it violate God\u2019s law to make a vow to our spouses\u00a0that we will honor\u00a0them\u00a0the rest of our lives?\u00a0<\/span>
      \nThe Pledge of Allegiance is just one way in which we declare that we stand with the values and principles of the United States of America.\u00a0It is true that we are a country that is not perfect! We are a\u00a0republic that has its share of mistakes! Sure this union of\u00a0fifty\u00a0states has many scars and sins in its short history, but we are also\u00a0a\u00a0country that has from its very beginning sought to incorporate the teachings of\u00a0the Bible\u00a0and provide man the freedom to choose his own way in life.\u00a0<\/span>
      \nIn contrast to this, history tells us during the Roman\u00a0Empire\u00a0Caesar\u00a0would require\u00a0its\u00a0citizens to\u00a0take an oath and declare that \u201cCaesar\u00a0is Lord.\u201d\u00a0Now this is clearly a violation\u00a0of God\u2019s Word\u00a0because it is a lie!\u00a0Caesar\u00a0is\u00a0not<\/b>\u00a0Lord!\u00a0The Pledge of Allegiance does not declare any kind of lie (unless the person stating it didn\u2019t mean it), it simple declares that I as a citizen\u00a0believe in what this Republic stands for\u2013\u2013that we are one nation; that we are not above or even equal with God, but rather under God; and that it is our purpose to provide liberty and justice for all.\u00a0<\/span>
      \nNow let\u2019s address the second objection.\u00a0One writer based his argument\u00a0on\u00a0Matthew 6:24 where Jesus tells us we cannot serve two masters when discussing the dangers of storing up your treasures on earth.\u00a0The writer then concluded\u00a0that we cannot recite the Pledge of Allegiance because we cannot declare our allegiance to more than one thing, and that one thing should be Christ alone.\u00a0While\u00a0it is certainly true we cannot serve 2 masters, does\u00a0this\u00a0apply to the context of reciting the Pledge?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
      \nOnce again, may I introduce my spouse whom\u00a0I swore\u00a0my allegiance to when we were united in\u00a0marriage?\u00a0Now, it is true that I did not swear my allegiance to her as though she is my savior.\u00a0My pledge to my wife is only on the level of one spouse to another\u00a0promising\u00a0that I will remain faithful to her and her to me.\u00a0Likewise, when I was hired by my employer, I had to sign a pledge to uphold the values set forth by the company.\u00a0I can assure you that I do not look to either my wife or my employer for the salvation of my soul.\u00a0Nevertheless, I still made a pledge to them, and yet I remain committed to Christ the Lord first and foremost.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
      \nStating the Pledge of Allegiance, the Boy Scout Oath,\u00a0or a wedding vow\u00a0does not negate my commitment to Christ.\u00a0Rather, my commitment to my country,\u00a0the Boy Scouts,\u00a0my wife,\u00a0and\u00a0my employer are all upon the condition that they do not seek to interfere directly with the teachings of Jesus.\u00a0For example, if my employer asked me to pledge to steal money from\u00a0our customers, this would preclude me from making such a pledge,\u00a0as it is a clear and direct violation of being a Christian.\u00a0<\/span>
      \nThe point is\u2026I am a Christian first and foremost, and as long as I am not violating any teachings of Christ,\u00a0as long as I am not serving another master of my soul,\u00a0I have no hesitation when making a pledge to this country, the Boy Scouts, my employer,\u00a0or to my wife.\u00a0<\/span>
      \nSo do I\u00a0pledge\u00a0allegiance to the United States of America? Well, as long as we remain a country with God as our foundation\u2026then\u00a0yes, I do!\u00a0<\/span>
      \n\u00a0<\/span>
      \n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      By Ryan Haedge Can a Christian recite the Pledge of Allegiance?\u00a0 Along with so many others in the public school system in America, I clearly remember\u00a0the school bell ringing and the teacher asking the class to stand for the pledge.\u00a0We all faced the flag of the United States of America, placed our right hand over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[1135,1183,138,141,1184,941,1173,1176],"class_list":["post-5349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-think-excerpts","tag-1135","tag-allegiance","tag-america","tag-government","tag-oath","tag-pledge","tag-ryan-haedge","tag-september","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nI Pledge Allegiance... - 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