Pledge of Allegiance, Roman salute myth, urban legends & folklore debunked at Bryn Mawr Classical Review
News Journalism
Curry's comments about Martin M. Winkler's book "The Roman Salute:
Cinema, History, Ideology." The review was written by Michelle Borg,
University of Sydney, and in criticizing Winkler she states:
"The author [Winkler] first turns to the early form of the Pledge of
Allegiance, which originally included an entirely similar gesture to
the one that came to be used by Fascists and Nazis. This uncomfortable
association is not explored in depth; Winkler simply asserts that the
gesture had no political or historical connotations in the United
States." http://www.bmcreview.org/2009/08/20090845.html
Winkler's work was debunked before it was published (see the work of
the symbologist Dr. Rex Curry, author of "Pledge of Allegiance
Secrets"). Comments have noted some of that with this criticism: "The
author [Winkler] first turns to the early form of the Pledge of
Allegiance, which originally included an entirely similar gesture to
the one that came to be used by Fascists and Nazis. This uncomfortable
association is not explored in depth; Winkler simply asserts that the
gesture had no political or historical connotations in the United
States." Winkler simply will not address the work that preceded him by
Dr. Curry. The Pledge was the origin of the so-called "Roman salute"
and it was the origin of the salute adopted later by socialists in
Germany and Italy. The Pledge was written (1892) by Francis Bellamy,
cousin and cohort of Edward Bellamy, both self-proclaimed national
socialists in the USA. Bellamy explained the origin of his gesture: It
began with a military salute that was then extended out toward the
flag. It was also the origin of the Olympic salute. Winkler cannot
bear to discuss that because Dr. Curry has long ago explained it all.
That is why Winkler evades the national socialist dogma of Germany and
Italy, and insteads uses the unscholarly and misleading slang "Nazi"
instead of the actual name of the group "National Socialist German
Workers Party." He also evades the fact that Mussolini was a self-
proclaimed national socialist when Mussolini learned of the stiff-
armed salute, which originated in the USA's Pledge. There has been an
outstanding debate challenge against Winkler (in which Dr. Curry has
prevailed by Winkler's default spanning years in which Winkler has
lost/conceded) and Winkler is just not going to face the issues. He
will perpetuate ignorance about the topic and not inform people.
http://rexcurry.net/pledge-professor-martin-winkler.html
http://rexcurry.net/bookchapter1a1e.html
Oath of Horatii http://rexcurry.net/oath_horatii_rexcurrydotnet.jpg