The Oath of Allegiance that the soldiers take upon joining the British Army goes like this,Those who believe in God use the following words:
"I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors and that I will as in duty bound honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, her heirs and successors in person, crown and dignity against all enemies and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors and of the generals and officers set over me."
Others replace the words "swear by Almighty God" with "solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm".
source: Wikipedia
I believe that the option given for believers and non believers portrays Democracy and Freedom. Do other countries have it? I have no idea. But this is a fine example. There may be certain shortcomings in implementing a perfect system. However, the commitment seems to be genuine.
10 comments:
Swearing upon something/someone that does not exist always seemed highly unrealiable to me. The 2nd version sounds much better.
Be better if Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors is replaced with my country
Whoa... miss Darwin u r treadin into unknown territory (unless, unlike me u r very educated on these matters - Religion, Philosophy, etc..)
See wut I mean ? Democracy ! U can choose, you r not forced to.
Venus : hmm.... Good Idea. But Prince Harry might not like it !
Do I wanna die for my country : yes
Do I wanna die for a greedy old woman : no
..thats the way I see it
Wow !! thats very patriotic. I shall arrange with the forward defence lines in Omanthai(The last defene post in the Govt. controlled area) to place u there as sentry or mayb recruit u for the Deep Penetrating Units........
Yeap... definitely not for her. Gee, I didn't know she was greedy.
I'm afraid I am very selfish. I would never dream of dying for my country. Actually I would be very hard pressed to say I would consider dying for anyone.
(Shrug) At least I'm honest about it...
I wouldn't call myself educated in religion or philosophy as such since my main field is Biology. Taking that fact into account, plus the fact that I call myself Darwin, I cannot in my right mind believe in Creationism (by a higher being) as opposed to Evolution. Hence since we evolved from humble arse-scratching monkeys, since nothing created us nor the monkeys nor anything else, since everything evolved, swearing by an entity which does not realistically exist (apart from in the overactive imaginations of people looking for an easy way out from life's question) seems highly unrealible.
Apologies for the long and possibly controversial post!
I'm not saying Im running off to die for my country any time soon
But
If I had to, would rather do it "for my country" than for a old lady I dont particularly care for. The thought of being of use to my country is far more inspirational.
Thanks Dogfight, make sure you tell them I wanna be a sniper :)
p.s:I think she is greedy, look at how she is holding on to that crown despite her visibly ageing son and heir being present.
p.s 2: No arguments against evolution here
OH Lord ! Looks like I've started a blogger war !.... I'm alone..... Nevertheless, check your ammo, fix bayonets.....on my signal......
Darwin : You're most welcome to comment !
I agree with you that your background convinces you of that. I can't disagree with Charles Darwin either. I really enjoyed the documentary shown on Discovery abt the Galapagos Islands.
However, I cannot refrain from mentioning that by chance you discuss this topic with a person who wud'av taken the first option, pls b careful not to cause doubts in that person's mind abt his / her faith. Its nerve wrekin ! I'm open to all sorts of ideas and will tolerate any arguments or points of view. But not everyone will.
Venus : Roger Dat Ma'am !
Actually yes, you very are right. I come across as no better than a Bible-thumper, especially since I am commenting on your blog not mine. I do apologise!
U don't hav to.
It's Democracy !!
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