More important issues than education?
Allow me to clarify. I believe there are more important issues with the pledge of allegiance than the diety reference. That's it. Nothing to do with the context or location of the recitation.
But you forget that words have connotations as well as denotations, and that many words have multiple meanings.
On the contrary, that's exactly why there needs to be agreement on terms before any discussion can be fruitful. Otherwise, we just talk past each other.
Once again, I apologize if I have insulted you or have in any way elevated your irritation level. It was never my intent to imply that you lack knowledge of, insight into, or skill with the English language. We may disagree about some few points of philosophy, but never about your honesty, industry, or ingenuity.
I did indeed try to draw attention to the fact that you're statement in and of itself sounded like it was based on some extreme theory of submission to state authority, but I also fully expected you to reply with more clarity in your next response.
Although I may shift positions or attempt to play the Devil's advocate, I think that during my (admittedly brief) time on this forum, I believe I have been consistently individualistic, sometimes to the point of misanthropy, and definitely anti-authoritarian. I would appreciate it if you would demonstrate how the original statement derived from a theory of submission to state authority.
That's a very good question, and one that might elicit a variety of responses, I imagine. Why don't you ask that in a separate thread and see how everyone else feels? Drawing the line between courtesy and personal conviction is always tricky, and I imagine that theists have as hard a time with it as atheists do.
Oh alright. If the board gets boring before I have a chance to wite it up, feel free to go ahead.
