Another reason I oppose the words "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance

[xiphias]

As many of you know, the United States of America has a "Pledge of Allegiance" which most schoolchildren recite every morning in school. It goes:

I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands:
One nation, under God,
Indivisible,
With liberty and justice for all.

Its original version was:

I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands,
one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Over a few years, they swapped in some words to make it clear what "my Flag" was, to avoid confusing immigrant kids, and played wit the rhythm, ending up with what I believe the Pledge should say:

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.

"Under God" was added in in 1954, for a number of weird reasons, and, in my opinion, it destroyed the meaning of the pledge.

Most people who have a problem with this think that it feels like an imposition of religion. But I've got a different objection.

The whole POINT of the pledge is to pledge to "One Nation, Indivisible," and that nation's flag.

Obviously, that was a very important thing to bring up just a generation out from the Civil War, when the Pledge was instituted, but it remains just as important, today. In a time when we keep talking about "Red America" and "Blue America", we ought to be talking about "One Nation, Indivisible."

When you say, "One Nation, Under God, Indivisible," the "indivisible" gets lost. And the "indivisible" is the single most important word in the pledge. The addition of "Under God" destroyed the purpose of the pledge. We ought to have all be growing up learning that we were "One Nation Indivisible", black, white, conservative, liberal, religious, atheist, and all else -- but all one nation, indivisible.

Comments

[tidesong.livejournal.com]

Good point. I couldn't agree more.

I Agree

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Your deconstruction is very elegant and very apt.

[navrins]

I want to agree with you. I certainly agree in principle. The poetry and the politics are a lot better without the extra phrase.

But in fact, I think very few people who recite the Pledge of Allegiance actually think about what they're saying. I consciously remember the first time I gave it any real thought, in sixth grade, and I'm sure my attention was never called to it after that until people started talking about whether the "under God" phrase ought to be removed (and then it was ONLY about that phrase, for the most part). It might as well be:

I pledge allegiance to the teacher
Who's making me recite the pledge
And to the classroom in which I stand
One hour, maybe with a bathroom break
With recess and report cards for all.

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

It wasn't really "a number of weird reasons." It was one really big reason, which was that the Red Scare was in full swing. With Godless Communists seeking to infiltrate our country and corrupt our youth, what better way to combat that than to reaffirm the godfulness (not a word, I know, but it works) of our country in the Pledge?

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, I've never liked the Pledge, and not just for the "under God" part. First, I really don't have any particular allegiance to the flag itself--to the republic for which it stands, yes, most assuredly, but not to the flag. Second, making kids recite such a pledge daily means they're doing it by rote--that is, not really giving the meaning of the words any thought. So how much actual allegiance is likely to be inspired by it?

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

I never liked the idea that our government was under god. I thought our nation was governed by the people, that whole "under god" thing seems like a conflict between the pledge, and the constitution. "We the people" not "By the grace of God".

[flouritephoenix.livejournal.com]

Under God also messes up the scantion.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of the pledge in general, but yes, "under God" is particularly wrong for many reasons.

The Pledge

[(Anonymous)]

B"H

My issues with the Pledge in general are:
1) if it said "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the US of America, to the republic for which it stands...." I wouldn't be as bothered. But now, you're pledging allegiance to a piece of fabric.
2) to me, it smacks of McCarthyism.

Thank you....

[(Anonymous)]

B"H

This is what I've been saying for years -- I have no allegiance to a piece of fabric. [And I only have allegiance to the country, "the republic for which it stands" as long as it remains democratic and unprejudiced, or relatively so??? -- were it to become a dictatorship or "white supremacist" or the like, my allegiance would falter -- ok, not falter, disappear.]

I couldn't agree more

[(Anonymous)]

As a non-theist myself, the inclusion of "under god" tends to leave those like me out of the picture. (I don't take it personally. No one is "under god" as far as I'm concerned anyway.) Which, as you said, neutralizes the effect of the pledge. If we are to be indivisible shouldn't that mean that all are included from all differing persuasions as well as long as we all agree to stand behind our country? But the truth is we are divisible and there are many who see profit in keeping it that way. What a shame....