Can Someone Tell me if this is True?

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Jonpod

New member
Someone(my boss, a true communist) tried to tell me that Joe McCarthy was the champion for including "under God" in the Pledge. Something about trying to root out the anti religious communists of the day. Does anyone have any information that would either support of refute this claim? I have tried searching the web and have found lots of useful information. Nothing that says either way if he was directly involved as a major player. However, it is my conclusion at this point that McCarthy could not have played a major role in this because in 1954 he had lost all of his credibility.

I also tried to find out if McCarthy was a member of the Knights of Columbus; without success.

I would really love to come back at him and shoot down his claim as if it were some sort of wacko conspiricy theory.

Help, please.
 
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Mordwyn.45

New member
McCarthy did have a hand in getting the resolution past in congress. If I recall correctly, the legislation was sponsored by Rep. or Senator from MI but was vocally supported by "Tail gunner Joe"

The reasoning behind the act was to point out every day the difference between us "god ferin 'Mericuns" and "dem godless commies" when the pledge was recited.

Sorry, but your Boss is correct, but lets be honest here. Was a single hungry child given a meal because we removed "under god" from the pledge? Did a single poor high school student get a scholarship to Harvard because of the change? Was a single terrorist act prevented?

Lucky for us we have such concerned parents like this Yob in Ca.

Thanks buddy, you really made a difference:rolleyes:
 
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Coltdriver

New member
McCarthy started what Nixon finished.

The conviction of Alger Hiss.

Hiss was a State Department official under Rosevelt and Hiss was the lead of a ring of communist fellow travelers.

If you want to eat your boss' lunch on McCarthy, read "Witness" by Whittaker Chambers.

It is a real eye opener into the communist movement in this country from pre world war II to the fifties. Chambers was originally one of Hiss' ring members but he defected and testified against him.

McCarthys only evil was alcohol. The communists have worked feverishly for years to demonize the man. But when the Kremlin archives were opened and Hiss and many other Rosevelt government officials were found to be on the payroll of the communist party, well that nonsense demonization quieted down a bit.
 
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Don Gwinn

Staff Emeritus
McCarthy may have had a hand in it, but he wasn't alone. It was a pretty popular move from what I can tell. Eisenhower strongly supported the measure. Interestingly enough, his written comments at the time indicate that he wanted to add the words in order to ensure that American children grew up praising and thanking God for their American way of life.
 
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LoneStranger

New member
So, does this mean that we can get away from the current hysteria of all the Chicken Little Hen Conservatives and get back to the Pledge of my Parents and Grandparents, the one without the "under God"??
 
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Scott Conklin

New member
A major point to remember about the legislation is that it merely codified something that was going on in schools across the nation long before that. People didn't suddenly add "under God" to the pledge because of a law. The law merely acknowledged what the people had been doing for years. Though I have no doubt the law, as with virtually everything from Washington, was created purely for political manuevering it was fairly irrelevent to the average Joe.
 
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TexasVet

New member
"The law merely acknowledged what the people had been doing for years."
____________
Yeah. They were doing it so much that I STILL have to stutter to get "under God" in, having said it over and over for years the old way.

"People didn't suddenly add "under God" to the pledge because of a law."
_________
Actually, yes, we did. Where did this disinformation come from?
 
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Scott Conklin

New member
My grandmother. My parents. Several former teachers. Couple discussion groups online. You know, people who were in school before '54 and actually lived it? Sorry, the disinformation is that this was somehow magically legislated in to existence. Even that isn't so much disinformation as an assumption made by younger people who have never seen anything stating otherwise and simply assume a law made it such...or that a judgement can stop it.

So, you're still stuttering 50 years later? Maybe you should have that looked at.
 
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Cactus

New member
I've got a deal for the liberals that want to remove the phrase "under God" from the pledge and go back to the 1953 version.

I will be willing to support the official 1953 version of the Pledge, IF we can go back to the almost universal practice of saying prayers in the classrooms as we did in 1953!

Well, liberals, what do you say? Is it a deal?
 
B

Byron Quick

Staff In Memoriam
I will be willing to support the official 1953 version of the Pledge, IF we can go back to the almost universal practice of saying prayers in the classrooms as we did in 1953!
Click to expand...

Well, I don't think I'm a liberal but I'll take a stab as a Libertarian...

Sure, we can say prayers as long as after the Christian prayer we follow with a prayer for every non-Christian student in the class...that the Christians have to pray to, also. So we could have Christian prayer, followed by Jewish prayer, followed by Islamic prayer, followed by Buddhist meditation and capped by atheist prayer: Our Father who art in Heaven (if there is a God or a Heaven)...:D

Personally, as a Libertarian, I believe this entire debate merely points up the absurdity of public, government supported schools.
 
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TexasVet

New member
2nd, since I was there way back then and you admittedly weren't, I'll believe myself first, thank you.
Funny, I grew up in the Bible Belt and no one I know ever needed to add an extranious clause to the pledge, because we followed it immediately with a school prayer.
As far as the stutter during the pledge, " learned first, learned best".
 
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wolfman97

New member
Just as additional interesting historical note, Joe McCarthy was a heroin addict. He got his heroin directly from Harry Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
 
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tombread

New member
"McCarthys only evil was alcohol. "

Which caused him to be a lying, opportunistic roach. He had neither scruples nor ethics.
 
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Jeff White

New member
"McCarthys only evil was alcohol. "

Which caused him to be a lying, opportunistic roach. He had neither scruples nor ethics.
Click to expand...

Which makes him different from any current politician....how?

Jeff
 
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Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
I recall saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school; I began First Grade in 1940. Austin, Texas.

No "under God", ever. I remember becoming a bit grumpy at the addition, just because it was "different from how I learned it".

I've never liked changes in writings from the way I first learned them, whether a Pledge or in Psalms or "cleaning up" certain song lyrics...

Art
 
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C.R.Sam

New member
My experience mirrors Texas Vet's and Art's. Yeah, I was there too.

Sam: Humanoid cudg...kurmid....courm....whatever.
 
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Zander

Moderator
So, does this mean that we can get away from the current hysteria...-- Lonestranger
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What next...accusing us of hysteria because we want the Declaration of Independence or George Washington's first inaugural address taught to our children in the government indoctrination centers?!?

Heck, let's just repeal the 1st Amendment clause guaranteeing freedom of expression...that'll help the bigots expunge any hint of religion from public life.

Tyranny is tyranny...it isn't any more acceptable when forced upon us by an extreme minority.
 
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Malone LaVeigh

New member
Tyranny is tyranny...it isn't any more acceptable when forced upon us by an extreme minority.
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Nor when forced on our kids by the majority. I'll take mine without the religious indoctrination, if you please.
 
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