After receiving several e-mails regarding the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, I feel compelled to share the following. Although I was born and raised Catholic, I am not the God fearing person many people seem to believe I am. So, for those who send me Christian fundamentalist e-mails expecting a sympathetic ear, think again.
Here is some history on the Pledge of Allegiance.
It was written in 1892 by a baptist minister named Francis Bellamy. He wrote the Pledge of Allegiance specifically for school children, hoping it would start a push to get an American flag in every classroom around the country. Before The Pledge was written, most schools didn't have flags in the classroom. Francis wanted to give the children a way to pay respect and homage to the flag everyday.
The male Christian group Knights of Columbus pushed Congress in 1954 to add the words "under God" and were succesful.
There were two other changes made to the Pledge. Francis added the word "to" to the phrase "the republic" shortly after he introduced the pledge. In 1924 the National Flag Conference, under the leadership of the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, changed the original words "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America." Francis opposed the change. He died in 1931. His granddaughter publicly opposed the addition of the words "under God", stating that her grandfather had become disillusioned by the church and left it in 1891 because he disliked the racial bigotry he found there.
Congress altered an important part of our history and heritage, and in doing so violated the Constitution by breaking "Separation of church and state" laws. Those laws are there to respect our freedom from religion as well as our freedom of religion. Both are very important rights.
There are some other proposed changes to The Pledge that would further erode the very thing the flag represents...Freedom. For example, prolife advocates would like to add the words "born and unborn" to the end of the pledge.
Food for thought...don't you think if Francis wanted the words "under God" in the pledge he would have put them there? After all, he was a God fearing man himself...
Here is some history on the Pledge of Allegiance.
It was written in 1892 by a baptist minister named Francis Bellamy. He wrote the Pledge of Allegiance specifically for school children, hoping it would start a push to get an American flag in every classroom around the country. Before The Pledge was written, most schools didn't have flags in the classroom. Francis wanted to give the children a way to pay respect and homage to the flag everyday.
The male Christian group Knights of Columbus pushed Congress in 1954 to add the words "under God" and were succesful.
There were two other changes made to the Pledge. Francis added the word "to" to the phrase "the republic" shortly after he introduced the pledge. In 1924 the National Flag Conference, under the leadership of the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, changed the original words "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America." Francis opposed the change. He died in 1931. His granddaughter publicly opposed the addition of the words "under God", stating that her grandfather had become disillusioned by the church and left it in 1891 because he disliked the racial bigotry he found there.
Congress altered an important part of our history and heritage, and in doing so violated the Constitution by breaking "Separation of church and state" laws. Those laws are there to respect our freedom from religion as well as our freedom of religion. Both are very important rights.
There are some other proposed changes to The Pledge that would further erode the very thing the flag represents...Freedom. For example, prolife advocates would like to add the words "born and unborn" to the end of the pledge.
Food for thought...don't you think if Francis wanted the words "under God" in the pledge he would have put them there? After all, he was a God fearing man himself...
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