It’s the old controversial line “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance coming back again. This time, the case was brought to the Ninth Circuit U.S Court of Appeals by atheistic parents led by Michael Newdow who had brought a similar case to court years ago, in San Francisco, California who were concerned about the pledge being both a pledge influenced by religion and a social pressure on their children. The court ruled that ”Under God” was constitutional and it holds true for Western and 11 other states. There are many arguements for and against this line in the Pledge. Many stand in the middle and say that they stand out of respect but do not recite the pledge or they stand and recite the entire pledge except for the “G” word. Statistically, more than 10 million people recite it daily mostly students in schools.

Francis Bellamy, the creator of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Pledge of Allegiance has been around since the late 19th century when Francis Bellamy wrote the original pledge of allegiance. Ever since then there have been four modifications to the pledge, even the gestures when facing the flag were changed during the 20th century by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was finally recognized as the official pledge by the U.S Congress during the year of 1942.

Don't reel from shock! It's not a German classroom, but an American one, the "Bellamy Salute" was used up until World War II was underway and the gesture was changed to hand-over-the-heart as to avoid any confusion with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

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

Modification #1: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Modification #2: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Modification #3: 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.

Modification #4(Added 1954, spurred on by the Knights of Columbia): I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.

While the court has OK’ed the “Under God” line, there are still many others who are not “okay” with it. There are Americans who are Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, Muslim, and whatever else. Those who are for this controversial line often argue that the pledge is to the country, not to a specific diety and that “God” can mean any diety. The opposing side refutes these arguements by insisting that the pledge actually does contain a specific God as it heavily implies that the “nation is under [Judeo-Christian] God”. The pledge also, since it is held in a public enviroment, gives enough social pressure to force students to recite it anyway or declare themselves as “atheists” which, by my own personal experience, can get tougher for children to associate with others of their level. Furthermore, the use of the word ”God” is still the endorsement of a religious doctrine.

Certainly as anyone can see from the above modifications, the Pledge can be amended for a secular America but since most of the modifications were made before the pledge of allegiance was officially declared a national pledge, it is even more difficult to do so especially even more due to the increased sense of secularism clashing with ’old values’ in the U.S. One amusing aspect about this particular case is that the Supreme Knight (Carl Anderson) of the KOC (Knights of Columbus, the largest fraternal, Catholic organization) commented on the court’s decision.

“Recitation of the pledge is a patriotic exercise, not a religious prayer…Today’s decision is a breath of fresh air from a court system that has too often seemed to be almost allergic to public references to God.” – Carl Anderson

So the pledge wasn’t a patriotic exercise until the KOC came along and amended it? It’s okay by me to have “Under God” in there but this, seriously? Also it is not an allergy to public mentions of God, but rather a dignified, secular approach to a well-mixed America today which was adopted for a reason.

- Authored By: Linxy