Texas Loses It's Collective Mind

I must assume that rednecks have some sort of innate desire to commit themselves to causes, no matter how ridiculous those causes might be. Religion is one such cause - Baptists, Catholics, and all of the major religions have some sort of 'statement of belief" or creed which they must recite at least once a week while in the presence of their peers. It is not enough that the commitment be made privately, within one's own thoughts - it must be made in public - to declare one's devotion to that cause so that the crowd knows you are truly one of them.

I have always been a very proud American, but I am annoyed, and have been since I was a young man, at having to publicly recite the pledge of allegiance (or sing the national anthem, in the case of sporting events) to the flag at every public meeting I attend. What, I can't be a true American without making some public declaration of my undying devotion to a man-made geopolitical entity every time we gather together? This really gets very, very stupid, in my not-so-humble opinion.

Well, now there's another one - a pledge for the citizens of Texas that also commits them to loving their smaller geopolitical entity as well as their imaginary ghost-in-the-sky person. Coming next week - pledges for your town, county, neighborhood and family unit. You'll be so much better a person for publicly declaring your devotion.

HOUSTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Texas created its first state pledge in 1933, made the pledge mandatory for schools 70 years later, and now legislators have made it religious.

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The Chronicle said that Harris County Republican legislators Sen. Dan Patrick and Rep. Debbie Riddle helped pass a law that brought religion into the mix, simply by inserting "one state under God" into the virtually unknown pledge.

From United Press International