Christianity and the Pledge/National Anthem

[Monte1076]

I'm asking here because I started thinking about this recently.

I know there are some religious denominations (such as Jehovah's Witnesses) who do not do the Pledge/National Anthem thing.

I'm not trying to get political here. I'm asking this from a religious perspective (the political stuff is for another thread).

If we, as Christians, are not to worship false idols, could the American Flag itself be considered a false idol?

Here's an article (from 2013) that argues that Christians should not say the Pledge: https://www.redletterchristians.org/the-pledge-of-allegiance-2-reasons-why-christians-should-not-say-it/

And here's another article that says it's OK: https://www.gotquestions.org/pledge-of-allegiance.html

And here's an article that says Christians shouldn't stand for the Pledge or the National Anthem: http://joeybeachum.com/christians-and-the-national-anthem/

And an article that says that Christians "worship" the National Anthem: http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2018/may/do-christians-worship-the-national-anthem-one-leader-says-they-do

So what do you all think?

[RETIREDFAN1]

I do not recite the pledge of allegiance....my allegiance is to God, not to a graven image......however, i DO stand respectfully as others recite it......

[Monte1076]

8 minutes ago, WestHardinfan1 said:

I do not recite the pledge of allegiance....my allegiance is to God, not to a graven image......however, i DO stand respectfully as others recite it......

Thank you for that response. I can understand your perspective of the flag being a symbol of a graven image. I had not considered that before.

[futfan]

I do not see them as “graven images” nor do I consider pledging allegiance the same as worship. 

Paying respect to a country ‘s national standard, or singing the Anthem, or reciting the pledge is NOT akin to worship in my book. 

God is always first. The worship he is due is at the highest level. As a Christian, that is understood. As a patriot of my country, I can give due respect to it without being blasphemous, as they are not mutually inclusive.