Words Under God To The Pledge example essay topic

Requiring individuals to recite the Pledge of Allegiance containing the phrase "Under God" clearly violates the doctrine of separation of church and state. The original pledge of allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), a Baptist Minister. The pledge was written in August of 1892. Francis Bellamy was a Christian Socialist and the original version of the pledge of allegiance was 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, but knew that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans. [ 'to' added in October, 1892.] According to Bellamy's granddaughter, he would have resented this change. Bellamy had been pressured into leaving his church in 1891 because of his socialist sermons.

During his retirement he stopped attending church completely because he disliked the racial bigotry. The Pledge of Allegiance never would have been written and promoted if it hadn't been for the Youth's Companion in 1892. The Companion was the largest weekly magazine at that time. Today, the magazine and its owner and editor, Daniel Ford, are largely forgotten. Francis Bellamy, who was raised by his mother attended the schools in Rome, including the new Rome Free Academy. He graduated in 1872 and was the first president of its Alumni Association.

In September 1872 he entered the University of Rochester and pursued the regular course in preparation for the Baptist ministry In 1923 and 1924 the National Flag Conference changed the Pledge's words, 'my Flag,' to 'the Flag of the United States of America. ' Bellamy, who didn't like this change protested unsuccessfully. After a campaign by the Knight of Columbus in 1954, Congress added the words, 'under God,' to the Pledge. The Pledge was now not only served as a patriotic oath but also as a public prayer. Just recently the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional (Newdow vs. US Congress). The 9th Circuit District Court of Appeals is considered the most liberal and most overturned District Court in the US.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals covers the entire West Coast including Hawaii and Alaska. According to Micheal Newdow, an atheist who represented himself Pro Se, the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance were unconstitutional because they are a violation of the Establishment clause in the First Amendment. Newdow claimed that his daughter suffers injuries when she has to listen to her classmates proclaiming, in a ritual manner, that there is a God and that our nation is a nation under God. Requiring students to recite the pledge first was noted as a violation of the First Amendment in the case West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnett e.

Newdow asked the Court to require Congress to alter the Pledge and immediately remove the words "under God" from the same. According to Newdow the pledge endorses religion and since he is an atheist believes that "Parents have a right to direct a religious upbringing of their children, and on that basis, have standing to protect their right". Let's take a closer look at the establishment clause. "The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the "separation of church and state. Some governmental activity related to religion has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court.

For example, providing bus transportation for parochial school students and the enforcement of "blue laws" is not prohibited. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a persons practice of their religion". The Court finds that indeed with the statement that the United States is a nation "under God" in fact is an endorsement of religion, it endorses monotheism. The ruling itself upset many Americans, the President himself declared in a speech on 4th of July that our nation is indeed "one nation under God", the Senate passed a 99-0 result ion stating that they are fully behind the pledge and that they will certainly not change the wording of the Pledge. The public seemed to have in large taken the same views as Congress and the President have. However we have to look at this from Mr. Newdow's perspective.

He as an atheist sure has the right to choose a religious upbringing that he seems fit for his daughter. In his case, it is no religion at all. How hard is it for him to explain to his daughter why in the Pledge of Allegiance her fellow students claim that our nation is a nation under God, when on the other hand the seperation of Church and Government is clearly stated in the First Amendment. So how constitutional is it really to claim on one hand that we are separating Church and Government but yet we are "forcing" atheists to read "in God we trust" on our money and subject their children to the recite ment of the Pledge of Allegiance which includes the word God as well.

In my personal opinion the words "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance not only because I believe it is unconstitutional, but also because there are people in this nation that not only not believe in God, but they might believe in more than one God, they might believe in Allah or Shiva.