Oddly enough, Benen mostly insists, No, he's not! He's Christian! And he does!
Um, so what if he was Muslim? One of the commenters borrows from Seinfield to remind readers, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."
My favorite commenter though, before s/he digresses into a borderline kids-these-days-suck rant, writes
"I don’t understand why human beings are so ritualistic and ceremonial. I’ve got a codicil in my will that says I won’t attend my own funeral because I can’t stand ceremonies.Form over substance, every time, it seems. Even with religion. As if you could fool this god that nearly everyone believes in by praying out loud and talking a good game and browning him up.
I stopped saying the Pledge when I was seventeen. Aside from objecting to compulsory and public attestations of loyalty and faith, I found the first phrase, “I pledge allegiance to the FLAG,” to be ridiculous. Why would anyone pledge allegiance to a symbol? And the “under God” thing I found to be abhorrent, and unconstitutional. But as a matter of courtesy, I stand when it’s repeated at public events.
As for the national anthem, I also stand out of respect for others, but don’t place my hand over my heart, and I don’t sing, partly because I can’t sing, and partly because I can’t stand this thing - I’ve heard it a billion times in my 66 years. Enough is enough.
I just don’t understand why this empty symbolism is so important to so many people."
I'm not going to my funeral either! Fuck that.
