The Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance In discussion of the Pledge of Allegiance, a controversial issue is whether “Under God” should be removed of kept in the pledge. Some argue that it should be removed because it excludes people of religions other than Christianity and atheists. While others contend that the statement is not a statement of religion beliefs but that it is related to American tradition and should be kept in the Pledge of Allegiance. In August of 1892, Francis Bellamy wrote the original Pledge for a public school’s celebration for Columbus Day. During the program there would be a flag raising ceremony were his Pledge of Allegiance would be said. Bellamy’s Pledge reads as:
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Bellamy added “to” in October of 1892 so it read: “to my Flag and to the Republic, for which it stands” In 1924, the Nation Flag Conference, under the Daughters of the American Revolution, changed the words “my Flag” to “the Flag of the United States of America,” under the protest of Bellamy. In 1953, the Knights of Columbus campaigned to have the words “Under God” added to the Pledge. Their campaign got nowhere until in 1954, Rev. George Docherty preached a sermon where he said that “Apart from the mention to the phase ‘the United States of America,’ it could be the pledge of any republic.” In the following weeks, a bill was sponsored by Senator Homer Freguson to add “Under God” to the Pledge. It was approved as a joint resolution on June 8, 1954 and signed into law on Flag Day. Since it was signed in people have argued that it is a violation of the separation of church and state and it is an unconstitutional “endorsement of religion.” “Under God” should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance because it excludes people of other religions other than Christianity and atheists. Not all religions believe in one God and even those that do, do