![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Question for You
Aug. 3rd, 2003 10:49 amIn the near future, the Supreme Court will be considering whether the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance are unconstitutional.
In case you weren't weren't aware (I wasn't, although it makes sense), these two words were not originally in the Pledge, which was crafted in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a former Baptist minister who wrote the Pledge after the Civil War. According to my source, the intent behind the Pledge was that "it was necessary to have a civic and secular patriotism, based upon the simple idea of liberty and justice for all."
The words "under God" were added in 1954 by President Eisenhower, who had been persuaded by a preacher that the Pledge, in its original form, was so generic that any country--even (gasp) citizens in Moscow--could recite it. Change was necessary! And, as a result, Ike got his red pen out and made a quick editorial insertion. According to Eisenhower, "our country makes no sense unless it is founded on a deeply-held religious belief--and I don't care what it is."
So, what do you think? Are the words "under God" important to the Pledge? Do they go against the ideals upon which this country was founded--the notion of separation of church and state? Is it another brick in the wall in the progressive decline of the American empire? Or, is this all much ado about nothing?
In case you weren't weren't aware (I wasn't, although it makes sense), these two words were not originally in the Pledge, which was crafted in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a former Baptist minister who wrote the Pledge after the Civil War. According to my source, the intent behind the Pledge was that "it was necessary to have a civic and secular patriotism, based upon the simple idea of liberty and justice for all."
The words "under God" were added in 1954 by President Eisenhower, who had been persuaded by a preacher that the Pledge, in its original form, was so generic that any country--even (gasp) citizens in Moscow--could recite it. Change was necessary! And, as a result, Ike got his red pen out and made a quick editorial insertion. According to Eisenhower, "our country makes no sense unless it is founded on a deeply-held religious belief--and I don't care what it is."
So, what do you think? Are the words "under God" important to the Pledge? Do they go against the ideals upon which this country was founded--the notion of separation of church and state? Is it another brick in the wall in the progressive decline of the American empire? Or, is this all much ado about nothing?
