You know, the Unitarian Church in Los Angeles lost their tax exempt status in the fifties because they wouldn't sign that stupid oath. It took a decade or so, but they finally got their status back.
Posted by lorelynn at May 5, 2008 03:58 PMand, of course, the blatant political games coming out of right wing churches is never a problem.
Posted by Turkana at May 5, 2008 04:06 PMQuakers seem to be a serious threat to our national security.
Yep. Thats why the FBI had em under surveillance. Can't be to careful about those pacifist types!
We are not only past the point of absurdity, we have backed the car up and run over absurdity a few times for good measure.
Posted by SnarkyShark at May 5, 2008 04:07 PMI have a friend who's a Quaker. I've always been a little suspicious of her. I mean, she's so non-violent and everything.
Posted by CG at May 5, 2008 04:27 PMMy friends who went to Ivy League schools always bragged about the great professors like Erik Erikson who left Berkeley and relocated to Harvard and other places. Just because they'd lived through the Nazis, they didn't want to sign a Loyalty Oath. Can you imagine?
But seriously, it seems that these reminders of the government's authoritarianism are a chilling validation of Sinclair Lewis's dictum that when fascism comes to America, it will be waving a cross and wrapped in a flag.
Of course, Bushism is just fascism as Lewis predicted.
Posted by Matutinal at May 5, 2008 09:53 PM"Some object because they interpret the pledge as a commitment to take up arms. Others have trouble swearing an oath to something other than their God."
1) I have no problem with using violence as long as it is used only in defence and is the only reasonable option. 2) I object to swearing any kind of oath to anything at all, including any god or God. In particular I object to swearing any kind of oath to a nationalist symbol or document.
Posted by Shirin at May 5, 2008 11:33 PMQuakers seem to be a serious threat to our national security.
After Nixon, I might tend to agree....
Posted by bartcopfan at May 6, 2008 07:49 AM