| Originally, The Pledge of Allegiance simply read "One nation, indivisible, etc.". The 'under God' was added in 1954 to foster patriotic feelings, and to try to prevent the spread of Communism in America, as the gov't was afraid we were all going to revolt or something stupid.
I agree that this whole matter was handled badly - instead of making a big issue about how the words 'under God' were harming his daughter, which turned out to be untrue anyway, he should have quietly lobbied to have the Pledge returned to its original form, which had served the country just fine for the many years it had remained non-religious.
People argue that our country was founded by religious fundamentalists who believed strongly in God, and for that reason we should all follow their beliefs. Other people argue that our founders wanted church and state to be separate, so we must eradicate all reference to religion in anything remotely state-sponsored (except, apparently the Boy Scouts, but that's another rant). Both conclusions are extremist and harmful.
Our founders were fundamentalists, and they did believe in the separation of church and state, but only to a certain point. They were concerned that the state not endorse any one religion over another. They didn't preclude religion from being included in gov't-sponsored areas, just as long as no religion was excluded.
What this means is prayer in schools is fine, as long as students are allowed to pray in their own manner, and not be pressured to follow only the majority method or belief. It also means that religious verbiage, such as 'under God', has no place in an official state Pledge, nor does it belong on our money or state seals, unless we include the names of all other worshipped deities as well.
That's my rant, and I'm sticking to it! |
