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 In
this time of controversy, as well as national and world
terrorism, we are seeing a resurgence of pride in America and
the American flag. Why, then, did we see the actions of
the California 9th District Court stating that the Pledge of
Allegiance was unconstitutional because it has the word God in
it and violated the separation of Church and State? My
first reaction was probably the same as many; how could they do
that?
Research shows that the Pledge
of Allegiance was not written during our country's first
years, but in the later part of the 19th century. It was
first composed in September 1892 and was used in some public
schools (probably to celebrate Columbus Day, which was once an
important public holiday in some parts of America).
Congress made it official on June 22, 1942, almost 60 years
prior to the 9th District Court's decision.
It was originally written by
Francis Bellamy, a Baptist Minister and Christian Socialist.
In 1892, he was in charge of a Columbus Day celebration for the
National Education Association. He centered the program
around flag raising ceremonies and a salute to the American
flag, which he called a "Pledge of Allegiance."
The original Pledge of
Allegiance 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." (*
"to" was added in October 1892.)
In 1923 and 1924, there was a
National Flag Conference led by the American Legion and the
Daughters of the American Revolution. At that time they
changed the Pledge's words "my Flag" to "the Flag of the
United States of America." Bellamy, the original author,
opposed this change, but he was ignored.
In 1954, Congress added the words "under
God" to the Pledge. The idea, and pressure to make this
change, came from the Knights of Columbus. The Knights of
Columbus is a strong arm of the Catholic Church in America, and
they do enormously good works. The change
that they successfully campaigned for, however, was based solely
on a religious outlook that they felt was lacking from the
Pledge of Allegiance. Editorial
Continued
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