Under God

I pledge allegiance to my Flag,
and (to*) the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

This was the original pledge as written by Mr. Frances Bellamy of Rome, New York
Columbus Day October 1892

This week in my class, we discussed the Separation of Church and State and the First Amendment.

The First Amendment was changed three times. The first was in 1923, when the words "the flag of the United States" were substituted for "my flag." In 1924, "of America" was added to reduce confusion over which United States. Mr. Bellamy protested these changes, but his opinion was ignored. On Flag Day June 14, 1954, the words "under God" were added.

If you notice, this was initiated during McCarthyism when there were blacklists for people suspected of Communism activity.

According to President Eisenhower, as he authorized the change, "In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war."

Essentially, we wanted to ensure that no Communist could pledge to our flag because they didn't believe in God. But, this still only represented those faithful members of the American Society who believed in God. As we know, there are many religions in the United States - even in the 1950s who don't believe in God. Not to mention those who atheistiest.

We talked a bit about if having "under God" in the pledge was appropriate. Some were pretty much on the fence, some felt strongly it should not be removed. I played Devil's advocate and took the position that it should be removed. One student,atheistiest, joined me in the role.

I felt that I made quite a breakthrough when I asked one student, who is very open about her faith, if Christianity was the minority, and the pledge stated "under Allah" instead - would the pledge lose it's power? Could she say the words "under Allah" if she believed in God? It was fun watching the wheels turn in her head as she admitted that it would lose something for her, and she could not do this. Earlier she held the position that it shouldn't be modified for those who didn't believe in God.

I don't think that I convinced her that it should change, but I did get her to consider that it's something more than just words when you don't believe.