God wasn’t Supposed to be in the Pledge of...

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, but he didn't use the phrase "under God'.Â This is how the Pledge, intended by Bellamy to be used by residents of any country, was written:Â Â

"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

The Pledge was later revised to in 1923 to read:

Â "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Â But still, the words "under God" were not added. It wouldn't be until 1954 with the help of the Knights of Columbus and President Eisenhower (who not so long before was a Jehovah's Witness) convinced Congress to make the changes from which our current Pledge of Allegiance was created.Â

What was so important about the two words "under" and "God"?Â What were the intentions of the Knights of Columbus and President Eisenhower?Â They felt that those words would keep us humble and would be a representation of the American way.Â Â Â Â

That was 1954. I wasn't born yet, but I guess for the majority of Americans, Christianity and God was the American way of life.Â But what about now?Â Most Americans, I would guess, are patriotic, and would like to remain as such.Â However, Christianity isn't the religion for all Americans now, and therefore any form of it shouldn't be the sole representation of our country as a whole.Â Isn't it time to make changes again, so that all Americans can feel united by our flag?Â After all, God wasn't supposed to be in the Pledge in the first place.Â Â

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm

Comments: 7

C C. Jan 6, 2009, 2:21pm UTC

thank you for posting to the group commentsneeded.gather.com

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Tristan Russell Jan 6, 2009, 4:41pm UTC

Well done! Just as with our currency, adding a reference to a "God" seemed to be the way to fight the evil communists and bolster McCarthy patriotism. It doesn't belong on our currency and it doesn't belong in our pledge.

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Nana to Seven Cutiepies Jan 6, 2009, 5:05pm UTC

Interesting, I never knew this.

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Dusty W. Jan 6, 2009, 6:54pm UTC

Yeah, but who says God only exists in Christianity? Many of our founding father's believed in a supreme being, but were not practicing Christians. You have all of the right points here, you just emphasize Christianity too much. God exists in most areas in one form or another. My scientist buddies always joked that science was their God. The only people I know who don't pay any heed to supreme beings are anthropologists. They have too many gods to think about... Just pretend God means sky and you'll be fine.

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Elle L. Jan 8, 2009, 11:43am UTC

I never knew this, I was just upset that schools are starting to not say the pledge of allegiance anymore, I personally like it. Regardless un race, religion, or creed we as a country need to unite as "Americans" so we can be a strong nation. It is still said at my son's school and as long as I am a school site council member I will do all that I can to keep it that way.

As far as the "under God" I am christain, I like it, but I never knew it was not part of the original pledge. Good job researching this. Nice post. 10 for you.

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Tammy S. Jan 8, 2009, 6:52pm UTC

Thanks everyone for commenting. Sorry it took me this long to respond. I had a lot going on here. Anyway, I, personally, am not offended with the phrase added. Dusty, you make a good point, except that not all believe in a God, but I think most people do believe in some higher power. I referred to Christians only because Christians were the one that urged the phrase to be added.
Elle, I agree that we need to be strong as a nation, and the the Pledge should be said in school. I just think maybe by changing it just a little, all Americans can feel united, not just the religious ones. Perhaps instead of "under God", we could say under a "higher power." That could be anything to anybody. It could mean a God, a spirit, or simply the higher power of the government.

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Mary Ann Slavcheff Jun 10, 2010, 12:39pm UTC

Very interesting. Thank you.

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God wasn’t Supposed to be in the Pledge of Allegiance

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