Hillary Clinton on the Pledge of Allegiance: Clinton's Anti-Atheist Bigotry

Hillary Clinton on the Pledge of Allegiance: Clinton's Anti-Atheist Bigotry

Why Does Hillary Clinton Treat Atheists as Unpatriotic Outsiders?

The Pledge of Allegiance tells us whether a politician truly believes in political equality for all or if they only believe in equality for those who believe in God like they do. We won't have a national politician oppose the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance any time soon because anti-atheist bigotry is so strong, but the degree to which a politician defends it says a lot about how bigoted they are. Hillary Clinton seems to be very, very bigoted against atheists. We can't expect strong support from her for our equality, but we shouldn't see her repeating the Christian Right's major talking points and acting like a Christian Nationalist who would sees atheists as inferior outsiders.

On June 28, 2002, Hillary Clinton posted this statement on her Senate web site in response to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance:

I am surprised and offended by the decision of the Appeals Court of the 9th Circuit and hope that it will be promptly appealed and overturned.
What is "offensive" about ruling that a 1950s addition to the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional? One might find it legally dubious or ill-reasoned, but offensive? Only the most inveterate bigot is offended at minorities being treated as equals.
Imagine how a gay person feels when a straight person whines about being "offended" at gay marriage, or how a black person feels when a white person whines about being "offended" at blacks being promoted to management.

That's a little like how I feel when Hillary Clinton uses her official government web site to declare that she is "offended" when atheists are treated as equals alongside monotheists like herself. Perhaps Clinton should spend a little time examining her own prejudices to determine why it offensive to her when people who disagree with her theism are treated like political equals.
I believe that the Court has misinterpreted the intent of the framers of the Constitution and has sought to undermine one of the bedrock values of our democracy -- that we are indeed "one nation under God," as embodied in the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

There is no evidence that the authors of the Constitution had any "intent" that citizens or politicians swear a religious oath or hold particular religious beliefs in order to be patriotic. On the contrary, the fact that the Constitution has a prohibition against religious tests for public office demonstrates that it was their intent that religion and religious belief play no role in such matters.

Does Hillary Clinton really think that being "one nation under God" is a "bedrock value" of American democracy? If swearing an oath to or just believing that we are "one nation under God" were fundamental to democracy, the framers of the Constitution would have included this somewhere - yet America survived for most of its history without it. Does Hillary Clinton agree with Christian Nationalists that American democracy won't survive unless Christians remain a majority and retain power over non-Christians?

To suggest that people who don't submit to or believe in the Christian god don't subscribe to a necessary value of American democracy is not only unambiguous bigotry, but it also suggests that atheists can never truly be a part of American politics, government, culture, or society. It sends the message that atheists aren't just outsiders, but should also be treated with suspicion and distrust.

And the children of America, who share a bond with each other and with our nation by reciting the pledge each day -- what effect will a decision like this have on them? It will cause them to wonder about the ways in which our beliefs can be stretched, our heritage can be assaulted.

Is Hillary Clinton worried that Christian children will get upset when they stop reciting an oath which promotes their beliefs and their own superiority over atheists? It's more likely that parents than children would get upset, but only a bigot would be concerned about other bigots not liking it when the government stops telling them how special and superior they are.
How is it an "assault" on America's heritage to be more inclusive? This implies that Clinton believes it is contrary to America's heritage for the government to treat atheists as equals to theists like herself. That's as vile and bigoted as saying that Jews shouldn't be equal to Christians or blacks shouldn't equal to whites.

It's interesting that Clinton isn't able to cite a single legal argument against the decision - she obviously couldn't find a way to argue that it is wrong legally. Instead, she can only find ways to rail against it as being against America's "heritage" and "traditions.." Isn't that the same sort of argument used by men against women's suffrage and by whites against segregation?
But ours is the most faith-filled nation on Earth, and there is no moral or Constitutional argument why our pledge of allegiance cannot acknowledge our commonly held belief that ours is one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Actually, there is a good reason why the Pledge of Allegiance cannot endorse or promote the belief that America is "one nation under God," and it's the same reason why it cannot endorse or promote the belief that America is "one nation, under Jesus" or "one white nation, under God." It doesn’t matter how popular such beliefs are, or how common such beliefs have been through history. The government has no authority to promote such religious beliefs or to endorse bigotry.

A nation under the leadership of Hillary Clinton, however, might endorse and promote such religious bigotry because Hillary Clinton herself is an anti-atheist bigot who doesn't believe that atheists should be treated as political equals. Hillary Clinton is as bigoted against atheists as white person who wants the Pledge of Allegiance to state that America is "One White Nation under God."