The original Pledge of Allegiance did not have any reference to god in it. I hope one day we can get it back to the way it was meant to be.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy (it is interesting to note that Bellamy was a Baptist minister).
Bellamy's original Pledge read, "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 designed to be stated in 15 seconds. It was supposed to be quick and to the point.
The Pledge was first used in public schools in 1892 during Columbus Day observances. This was after a proclamation by President Harrison. There was no reference to god
In 1923 the National Flag Conference called for the words my Flag to be changed to the Flag of the United States. The reason given was to ensure that immigrants knew to which flag reference was being made. In 1924 the words "of America" were added to the pledge. The U.S. Congress officially recognized the Pledge as the official national pledge on June 22, 1942.
The Pledge of Allegiance was ruined by the Knights of Columbus (of New York City) in 1951. For some reason they felt that the pledge was "incomplete" without a reference to god. They claim that since Abraham Lincoln used the words "under god" in the Gettysburg Address it would be appropriate to add these words the The Pledge of Allegiance. I've got to say that I don't think Lincoln would have backed this idea. The Knights of Columbus of NYC changed the way the said the pledge at the opening of their meetings adding the words "under god" after the words "one nation." It wasn't long before the idea spread to other Knights of Columbus across the United States. In 1952 the Knights decided that they wanted the whole country to say the pledge their way. They campaigned Congress to adopt their version of the pledge. Their first attempts failed. If only Congress could have stuck to their gut instinct.
In 1952 President Truman received a letter from Holger Christian Langmack suggesting the words "under god" be added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Holger Christian Langmack was a teacher and philosopher who came to the United States from Denmark in 1911. Langmack was also one of the instigators of the prayer breakfast as a religious leader in Washington. Truman met with Langmack and other religious leaders to discuss changes to the pledge. They also wanted to add the word "love" before "Liberty and Justice."
So we have the Knights of Columbus, Langmack and other religious leaders trying to alter the original Pledge of Allegiance. For several years the United States government stands strong and does not allow religion to worm its way into the pledge.
Unfortunately a presbyterian minister named George MacPherson Docherty preached a sermon about Abraham Lincoln Gettsburg Address in 1954 while President Eisenhower was sitting in the "Lincoln Pew" at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington D.C. Eisenhower was raised a jehovah's witness but had been baptized a presbyterian the previous year. Docherty preached that the power of the United States did not come from the newly developed atomic bomb but that the power of the United States was in the spirit of "the American way of life". Docherty claimed that what made the United States unique and strong was as in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address being a nation "under god". In Docherty's way of thinking with out a reference to god the Pledge of Allegiance could apply to any nation.
At the end of the service Docherty spoke with President Eisenhower and it seems that Eisenhower liked the sermon so much that the next day he started a process with Congress to alter the pledge.
On February 8th 1954 a republican from Michigan named Charles Oakman introduced the bill with the following quote that I got from wikipedia:
"These words [“under God”] will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded."
There's no real reason to add any reference to god in a pledge to a country that was founded on religious freedom. It is just another example of a few select people trying to force their will on others.
Good post. I agree with you. Did you know Mark Twain thought reciting the pledge was treason? ---the equivalent of "my country right or wrong." He thought it was every citizen's responsibility to speak up when s/he thought the government was in error.
ReplyDeleteYou can find another essay on the Pledge here:
http://www.simegen.com/writers/lois/pledge.htm
The writer is not opposing it because of "under God" but because forced recital of it renders it meaningless.