# B. C. Sunday strip, 7/4: Hart again lambastes the politically correct **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621 "2004-07-05T08:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/1 "2004-07-05T08:17:14Z")
In the Sunday comic section, the B. C. strip includes a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in which the panel which would contain the part “under God” is entirely blank. This seems to be Johnny Hart’s barbed response to a sentiment once expressed on this topic at this site. Any comments? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/2 "2004-07-05T11:34:59Z")
Moving this from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/3 "2004-07-05T15:41:46Z")
Since the pledge worked absolutely perfectly as Hart depicted it in that script, I wonder if deleting the “under god” had the effect he thought it would. He may have convinced people that it wasn’t necessary to include at all! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/4 "2004-07-05T15:44:45Z")
There’s already a [Pit Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264661) on this pathetic, freedom-hatin’, religion-crazed hate-monger. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/5 "2004-07-05T15:46:02Z")
[Link](http://www.comics.com/creators/bc/archive/bc-20040704.html) for those of us who don’t get B.C. in our local paper. ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/6 "2004-07-05T15:59:26Z")
A blank comic panel is a “barbed response?” ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/7 "2004-07-05T16:58:29Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > In the Sunday comic section, the B. C. strip includes a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in which the panel which would contain the part “under God” is entirely blank. This seems to be Johnny Hart’s barbed response to a sentiment once expressed on this topic at this site. > Any comments? I wonder how many people will read that comic and say, “Huh. It really **does** flow better without the ‘Under God.’” Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/8 "2004-07-05T17:11:10Z")
Hey, so he portrayed the Pledge of Allegiance in its pre-1954 text. No big deal! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/9 "2004-07-05T18:47:13Z")
Notice how the flag above the school looks all tattered after the blank panel. I guess Hart thinks that if we lose the “under god,” the union shall be hard-pressed to survive. ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/10 "2004-07-05T19:08:44Z")
Perhaps he is saying that without God in the school, we won’t be able to spell “school” properly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/11 "2004-07-05T19:14:37Z")
One could, of course, argue that the Pledge with the “under God” phrase is offensive to Christians. After all, it seems to be implying that God, rather than the Nation, is indivisible, contradictory to the doctrine of the Trinity. ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/12 "2004-07-05T19:28:03Z")
So… I’m not American, but I have heard of the ongoing debate about ‘under god’ in the pledge of allegiance. Slipped my mind though. I read the strip and thought… huh? What’s the deal? Because it was a perfectly valid construction as it stood. thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/13 "2004-07-05T19:33:51Z")
> [@Tyrrell McAllister](#): > > Notice how the flag above the school looks all tattered after the blank panel. I guess Hart thinks that if we lose the “under god,” the union shall be hard-pressed to survive. I completely missed that, myself. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/14 "2004-07-05T19:36:00Z")
> [@An Ant](#): > > Let he who is without conscience > Cast the first asterisk. What does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/15 "2004-07-05T19:42:53Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Any comments? Yeah - Johnny Hart is a douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/16 "2004-07-05T20:09:45Z")
> [@thwartme](#): > > Because it was a perfectly valid construction as it stood. > > thwartme Will you please do me a favor and tell that to our Supreme Court? ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/17 "2004-07-05T20:18:12Z")
I feel bad that Johnny Hart has become (or always was, perhaps) such a nutjob with his cartoon. I grew up reading him and loving the things he did for our community, being from my hometown area. He has always been right there when the community needs fundraising for a cause, he donates all manner of goods and services, and he designed all of our county parks signs (with that big green dinosaur). I probably just didn’t “get” the comics when I was younger, but now I just feel sad that he’s constantly pushing his christian conservative crapola in his strip. He really is a good person, I swear it ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/18 "2004-07-05T21:17:16Z")
> [@stolichnaya](#): > > What does this mean? I was wondering the same thing–and I also missed the tattered flag. Hart’s a weirdo. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/19 "2004-07-05T21:59:01Z")
> [@Tyrrell McAllister](#): > > Notice how the flag above the school looks all tattered after the blank panel. I guess Hart thinks that if we lose the “under god,” the union shall be hard-pressed to survive. Wait…so he’s saying that America will be hard-pressed to survive if we _don’t_ claim subservience to a monarch? _Gasp_ Hart’s a filthy tory royalist! _Get 'im!_ ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621/20 "2004-07-06T00:16:46Z")
There was a reason for my including the hyperlink to the Snopes urban-legend website. About 1960, I believe, comedian Red Skelton recorded a recitation he did about the Pledge. He appended a comment at the end about the inclusion of the words “under God” circa 1954, and commented that it would be a pity if someone ordered this omitted on the grounds that it is a “prayer…” Skelton’s dissertation is included on the Snopes site. Incidentally, the notion that God is a “trinity” doesn’t pass muster with me. (Cf. John 14:28, 17:22; Exodus 3:14; John 8:58; Habakkuk 1:12.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/b-c-sunday-strip-7-4-hart-again-lambastes-the-politically-correct/253621.md?page=2)