Plays Well With Others

Under God…

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton in San Francisco ruled that the pledge‚Äôs reference to “one nation, under God” violates schoolchildren‚Äôs right to be “free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.”

I don’t know about anyone else, but I kind of see this as a non-issue. If having the words “under God” is such a big deal, then why not just remove it. The original Pledge didn’t even have those words and it wasn’t until 1954, after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, that “under God” was added to make the Pledge both patriotic and a public prayer.

The guy that wrote the Pledge in 1892, Francis Bellamy, didn’t even like the whole “church” concept after his retirement, because he’d been asked to leave in 1891 because of his socialist views.

Regardless, as he wrote it, the Pledge read:

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

The reason “my Flag” was changed to “the Flag of the United States of America” is because there was concern that immigrants might think they were pledging allegiance to the flag of their own country. The change was made in 1923-1924.

Other versions of the Pledge include:

Pro-lifers Version: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, born and unborn.

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

Personally, I don’t think we need to go crazy making changes to the Pledge. In my opinion, if having “under God” is such a big deal and it wasn’t there originally, why not just take it out. I believe that kids in school SHOULD have to say the Pledge every morning. It’s the least they can do to give some respect to this country. Being forced to “pray” to a God you might not believe in… then don’t use those words.

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