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The recent 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision attempting to make it illegal for school children to say the Pledge of Allegiance, as it is presently written, is being hotly contested by many Americans, including the President, Congressmen, patriots and many Christians.
Finally, we have something we can all agree upon! Or do we?
It is high time that Christians realize that what the President, Congress, patriots or even what other Christians think is of little consequence. We are, instead, to assess everything by the Word of God, specifically Yahweh's* commandments, statutes and judgments. Following popular opinion, even when it comes from people of a Christian persuasion, can prove to be perilous:
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad
is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which
go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it…. Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord…. And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. - Matthew
7:13-23
Should Christians be making pledges to kings, governments, and countries or to flags that represent them? Should Christians be pledging their allegiance to anything other than Yahweh, the God of the Bible? There is nothing in the Bible that would indicate that we should be making such pledges. In fact, when such men, governments or anything that represents them are ungodly, it is treasonous to Yahweh to pledge allegiance to these entities. To do so is to place such men, governments or emblems above or on equal footing with Yahweh, which is a clear violation of the First and Second Commandments:
I am YHWH** thy God…. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…. Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I YHWH thy God am a jealous
God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands
of them that love me, and keep my commandments. - Exodus 20:3-6
Regrettably, most Americans are uninformed concerning the history of the Pledge of Allegiance, which was not composed until 1892. In other words, for a hundred and sixteen years following the founding of this country, Americans did not consider themselves any less loyal to their nation without an official pledge.
The Pledge of Allegiance, in its original form, was written by Francis Bellamy, a liberal socialist. The intent of the pledge was to foster allegiance to a centralized federal government as opposed to local Christian government as was the original intent of our Founding Fathers. The phrase "under God" was not added to the pledge until 1954.
Of greater significance, "one nation under God" is a hollow phrase if, in fact, our nation is not following Yahweh and His laws as stipulated in His Holy Word. With a government and the majority of the people sanctioning infanticide, homosexuality, pornography and other abominations, we are not even close to being a truly Christian nation at this time in our history. Therefore, the question is not whether our pledge should include the words "under god." The question is whether we should be pledging allegiance whatsoever to our American government or to the flag which represents it.
Like the United States Constitution, the flag of these United States has become an idol.*** Instead of pledging our allegiance to these idols and the man-made government that they represent, let us swear allegiance to Yahweh and pursue fulfillment of Christ's prayer - His kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven!
And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none except Me. Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has
gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to
Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will
say of Me, "Only in YHWH are righteousness and strength." - Isaiah 45:21-24
NASV
*Yahweh is the personal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible.
**Where the Tetragrammaton "YHWH" - the four Hebrew characters that represent
the personal name of God - has been incorrectly rendered as the LORD or GOD
in scripture, the author has taken the liberty to correct these passages and
insert YHWH. For a more thorough explanation concerning the use of the sacred
names of God, The Third Commandment may be read
HERE.
***For a more thorough explanation concerning how the constitution as become
an idol to some people, The Second Commandment may be read
HERE.
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