The Original Pledge of Allegiance

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands- one nation indivisible-with liberty and justice for all."




On September 8,1892, the Boston based "The Youth's Companion" magazine published a few words for students to repeat on Columbus Day that year. Written by Francis Bellamy,the circulation manager and native of Rome, New York, and reprinted on thousands of leaflets, was sent out to public schools across the country. On October 12, 1892, the quadricentennial of Columbus' arrival, more than 12 million children recited the Pledge of Allegiance, thus beginning a required school-day ritual.

At the first National Flag Conference in Washington D.C., on June14, 1923, a change was made. For clarity, the words "the Flag of the United States" replaced "my flag". In the following years various other changes were suggested but were never formally adopted.

It was not until 1942 that Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. One year later, in June 1943, the Supreme Court ruled that school children could not be forced to recite it. In fact, today only half of our fifty states have laws that encourage the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom!

In June of 1954 an amendment was made to add the words "under God". Then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower said "In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of reigious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war."

Should we continue to affirm this concept? Why or why not?

NO TRUE CHRISTIANS!

There is no doubt in my mind that there is not one true Christian on the planet, and I can prove it. There are several signs of a true believer that are very plain in the Bible. Unlike many of the passages of the Bible, these particular verses are very plain and nearly impossible to misinterpret or take out of context.

Let's consider these statements supposedly written by the Apostle John, otherwise known as the disciple whom Jesus loved, as he quoted his master and his God:

1) John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
2) John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
3) John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

This seems pretty plain to me. If you love the Lord, you keep his commandments. Simple!

John the Apostle emphasized this particular aspect of authentic Christianity here:

1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1 John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

I cannot imagine a single Christian anywhere in the world denying the plain words of these particular statements which are echoed elsewhere throughout scripture. So what is my point?

This is my point:

I am asking everyone that reads this article and calls him or herself a Christian, to click on the pay pal logo on the main website page and donate $10.00. I adjure every Christian reader to do this for one and only one reason, namely, because I am asking. I am asking according to the plain words of Jesus as quoted in both the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Luke, that Christians should give to everyone who asks. I have printed the full passages so as to not be accused of taking the verses out of context. As can be seen from a careful reading, it quite plainly implies that in so obeying this admonition of the Lord, you may indeed be blessing someone who is evil. Let's read:

Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Luke 6:30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

I do not expect to receive even one donation, even though $10.00 in US currency is almost nothing. Even though my motives can easily be interpreted as selfish, or blasphemous, or even evil, the plain teaching of these passages is that Christians should not resist evil, and should go ahead and give to anyone who asks, not regarding the motives of whoever is asking. God blesses the evil and the good and so should the good Christian.

It may be that God will judge me harshly for taking advantage of his sheep in this way. It may be I am only heaping damnation unto myself. But be that as it may, that does not absolve the true Christian from his or her obligation to obey the Lord, thus proving their true love of HIM.

As I said, I don't expect a single dime from this scriptural request, for the simple reason that I do not believe anyone really believes the Bible, and there are no real Christians. Christianity, like every other religion, is only popular to the point where it gives something to the adherents. When it asks something that seems unreasonable, like giving an obvious apostate exchristian website some money, well, then common survival sense kicks in and the cash stays in the wallet regardless of clear instructions.

The Lord commands Christians to give to everyone who asks, even evil people. Of this there is no doubt, but I will receive nothing for my honest and open request - why?


June 27, 2002
It seems I have to make a slight correction here! There is ONE true Christian out there. I received one contribution in the mail today of $10.00. Of course the fact that she is my natural sister should have nothing to do with disallowing the contribution, as she is a Christian.

SO, I stand corrected, there is ONE real Christian.

Sept 2002 finds another generous soul out in cyberspace

I was challenged by a visitor to the site who "dared me" saying he would donate to my site the $10.00 I was asking for if I would dontate to a mutually agreed upon charity. The deal he suggested was that I would donate a sum of money and he would match that sum and add the ten dollars. I suggested MDA as a place to put our money where our mouths, or typing fingers, were and he agreed. I received his check in the mail, forwarded it on to MDA with my own donation of one hundred dollars and had a thank you note sent to him with a receipt of his donation.

I am not sure what point he was trying to make with this wager, or if any point at all was being made, but MDA benefited from the exercise to the tune of two hundred dollars, so something good did come of all the rhetoric this time.

In fact, it was kind of fun!

Perhaps we will do it again!

How to Spot a 'True' Christian

Descriptions and signs of the true believer that Jesus himself set down.

Super Powers- Matt 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity.

and Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

Can Handle Snakes And Drink Poison- Mark 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

Can Walk Over Scorpions- Luke 10:19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.

Must not Fornicate- 1st Corinthians 7:1-40 (Editors note: This is very long so I leave it to the reader to check it out!)

Must Hate Their Family- Luke 14:26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Does Their Family Hate Them?- Matt 10:21-22 Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

Are Perfect- Matt 5:48 You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Keep Women Silent- 1st Timothy 2:11-12 Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent.

Can Bend The Will Of God- Matt 18:19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.

Can Move Mountains- Matt 17:20 He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move hence to yonder place,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you."

Can Wither Figs- Matt 21:19-22 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it they marvelled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?" And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will be done. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

The Bible tells us that a true Christian is a snake handling, scorpion treading, fig withering, disease curing, mountain moving, poison drinking, God commanding, family hating, woman shushing, sex abstaining and morally perfect as God.

There are many different types of Christians, many sects and denominations. In their pride and arrogance they all claim to be true believers. But it is important to make sure that we have the real thing because Jesus said that there would be many fakers.

In the following passages in the Bible Matt 7:15, Matt 24:23-24, Matt 7:22-23 and 1st John 4:1 Jesus tells us about false prophets, false Christians. When dealing with Christians ask them if they are 'true' Christians. If the answer is 'yes' then chuck them a taipan and stick a few scorpions in their shoes.

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