In 1892, Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy constructed and wrote the original pledge which read as follows: I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. He considered placing the word, "equality,"" in his pledge however, the states superintendents of education were against equality for women and African Americans. In 1954, after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus, Congress added the words "Under God,"" to the pledge. Bellamy's granddaughter protested the change, stating that Bellamy was pressured to leave the church for he disliked the racial bigotry found there.
There are over 250 religions, each one believe different theories or have different interpretations of the birth of the universe. One faith, Unitarian Universalist, believes that each individual discovers his/her own religion or philosophy as long as it does no harm to others and is encouraging to oneself; they feel that no doctrine should be held over another. This contradicts the phrase "one nation under God."" How can one nation be under God and there is more than one, according to the many religious beliefs. Our nation is not even on one accord, so how could we ever believe in one God. Atheist, Satanist, and other people who wish not to have a religious title, do not even believe in God. What is to become of them, are they not apart of the nation? We are a nation who stands firm with the rights of people. However, we are not a nation under God because all of our rights lead to complication and incongruity. .
After the September 11 attacks, our school began to recite the pledge for the first time because of the commercialized patriotism that reign in our nation. Of course, it only took about two weeks before the fad lost its effect on people. During those weeks, I wondered if the phrase "one nation under God,"" had any truth behind it.
