During DNC Pledge of Allegiance, Muslim Delegate Refuses To Say 'Under God'
Any reference to God was missing as the moderator for the Democratic National Convention’s Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly recited the Pledge of Allegiance on Monday.
Moderator AJ Durrani left the phrase “under God” out of the pledge, saying: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
I guess the “Under God” part just isn’t important to Democrats.
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 19, 2020
Durrani, a Texas community activist, did not offer any public comment about why he truncated the Pledge of Allegiance.
As illustrated by the debate on the Islam Stack Exchange message board, a variety of opinions exist among Muslims over whether the phrase “under God” is appropriate for Muslims to recite.
A report in The Washington Post about the origins of the addition of the phrase “under God” to the pledge in 1954 noted that the Rev. George Docherty, a prime mover in its adoption, believed the phrase was broad enough to include Jews and Muslims.
“To omit the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance is to omit the definitive factor in the American way of life,” Docherty said in a 1954 sermon. “An atheistic American is a contradiction in terms. If you deny the Christian ethic, you fall short of the American ideal of life.
“So, it must be ‘under God’ to include the great Jewish community, and the people of the Muslim faith, and the myriad of denominations of Christians in the land,” Docherty said then, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
He said that without a reference to God, “I could hear little Muscovites repeat a similar pledge to their hammer and sickle flag in Moscow with equal solemnity.”
But Durrani’s recitation of the pledge wasn’t the only instance during Monday’s DNC meetings in which the phrase was omitted. As shown on Twitter, an unidentified speaker at an LGBTQ caucus meeting also used a shortened version of the pledge.
NEW VIDEO: At the #DemocraticNationalConvention , LGBT Caucus purposely leaves out the words, “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. Watch. This now makes twice that two key constituencies of the Democratic Party have done this. See my earlier tweet about DNC Muslim Caucus pic.twitter.com/2GIDcCMq1F
— David Brody (@DavidBrodyCBN) August 19, 2020
Twitter users disapproved of the omissions.
This person with his flags and his caucus is what’s wrong.
Wackos—plain and simple. This is what you vote for more of when you vote democrat.— al dva (@devillier_al) August 19, 2020
“Under God” isn’t important to Democrats when reciting the Pledge Of Allegiance, because democrats feel “THEY ARE GODS!”
The Democrats want power over you!
The Democrats want control over you!
The Democrats want to make America into the next Venezuela!So, VOTE #Trump2020 ??
— Lynn ❤️s TRUMP! ?? (@LynnWoodcock2) August 19, 2020
In an Op-Ed Wednesday in The Federalist, Kylee Zempel, an assistant editor at the publication, said omitting God in the pledge would be in lockstep with the leftward drift of the Democratic Party.
“Anyone who has watched the trajectory of the Democratic Party, now with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at the helm, shouldn’t be surprised at the omission. After all, this presidential nominee pledged to go after nuns for refusing to violate their consciences in providing abortifacients,” she wrote, later citing the “Democratic Party’s increasing disdain for traditional religious teaching on marriage, the family, and church, to name a few.”
“As the convention progresses, we shouldn’t be surprised when Democratic Party and committee leaders take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance. They’re usually trying to take Him out of everything else.”
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