One Nation Under God

The current US Pledge of Allegiance goes like this:

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.

It wasn’t always like this. The Pledge has gone through some major revisions over the years. But the part I’m most interested in is the “under god”. How did it get there? You might be surprised. The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, added the words in 1951. They then started a large campaign to get “under god” added to the pledge nationally. It wasn’t until 1954, however, that they were backed up by a president, Eisenhower. He pushed it through congress, making the pledge what it is today. Now, what was going on around this time? The Cold War. Everyone was afraid of “those damn commies”. The Red Menace. Eisenhower wanted a way to show the American spirit, their values and moral superiority to the Communists. Being a religious person, supporting the words “under god” in the pledge was just a natural step for him.

Eisenhower felt that:

“In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”

He neglected to mention, however, that what he was reaffirming is not the religious faith of America. He was injecting his own beliefs into the entire nation. According to wikipedia, in 2002 about 78.5% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. And I suppose Jews would count too, making a grand total of 80.2%. Other studies peg Christians at about 75%, or even less. That’s really not a whole lot. This country is about equality and freedom for all, not just of the majority.