Advertising Patriotism
The Forsyth Area Critical Thinkers (FACT) and the Forsyth County Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have erected a billboard along Billy Graham Parkway in Charlotte, North Carolina. It shows an American flag with the text, “One Nation Indivisible.” “Under God” has been explicitly left out, says a spokesman, to make people thing about patriotism. The billboard is one of several that a coalition of athiest and agnostic organizations have commissioned for the four weeks leading up to the Fourth of July.
“A lot of people tend to think that those who adopt a view of the world that excludes the supernatural can’t be patriotic or are somehow less moral,” Richard Lawrence, the co-organizer of FACT, said yesterday. “It’ll force people to start questioning.”
The group notes that the Pledge of Allegiance, which the billboard quotes, was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister and didn’t include the phrase, “under God.” It was added on Flag Day, June 14, 1954, by President Eisenhower. Continue Reading →