Do you think the word's "Under God" should be removed from the pledge?

Question

I placed in a Speech and Debate Student Congress competition based on my speech negated the 'proposed bill' sponsored by another high school. The bill failed in student congress, but in real life, do people want the words "under God" removed from the pledge? Do peope even know why Eisenhower signed the bill putting those words into the pledge in 1954?

Could you also please explain your answer so I can get an idea of where you are coming from.

Sorry for the confusion, I meant that I placed (1st, 2nd, 3rd....) in the congress competition with Speech and Debate. The speech that ensured my win was negating the bill that student senators were trying to pass into legislation.

For the record, I am not rating these answers as of yet, so any thumbs up or down did not come from me. I want to gage your opinion before I start rating people. In all fairness.

Answer 1

The words were added during the McCarthy era, when politicians were trying to convince Americans that communists were 'infiltrating' our society, putting hidden messages in movies and TV, insinuating their communist values into our educational system. Every politician was trying to outdo the next on being 'tough on communism', so 'Under God' was put in the pledge of allegiance. I thought it ruined the meter.

But beyond that, I don't think a pledge of allegiance to a flag should have God in it. In fact, for that matter, I don't think we should pledge allegiance to a flag, -and- the nation for which it stands. The flag is just a symbol. Our allegiance should be to our nation, our Constitution, our liberties.

But the words 'under God' in the pledge are like the words 'In God We Trust' which began appearing on money just about this time. They are wrong but the wrong is 'de minimis', it doesn't really invade anyone's rights, it's just words.

Answer 2

Since I was not around in 1954, I can't speak as to why Congress passed the bill or why Eisenhower signed it. But the words are nothing unusual. President Lincoln included the words "under God" in his famous Gettysburg Address in 1863. And as such, the words "under God" also are carved into the Lincoln Memorial. And that happend long before Congress added the words "under God" to the Pledge. If it is unconstitutional to have the words "under God" in the Pledge, then wouldn't it also be unconstitutional to have the words carved, at taxpayers' expense, into the stone on a government monument?

I wish I could completely comprehend the first sentence of your statement, "I placed in a ... competition based on my speech negated ...." etc. It's kind of difficult to understand what you said there.

Be that as it may, I have long had a very difficult time understanding what the words "a wall of separation between church and state" mean, and I have long tried to understand why so very many people speak so confidently that they know what our Founding Fathers meant by those words. I prefer a very narrow interpretation of the Establishment Clause, because having a very narrow interpretation is the only way that I can make sense out of the idea that the Clause is a rule of law that all of our levels of government must consistently obey. I prefer to say that the Establishment Clause only prohibits: 1) the adoption of an official religion (the way that Judaism is the official religion of Israel), and 2) any deferment of law-making and law-enforcing responsibilities of the government to any church or churches. Laws must be made by the elected representatives of the people and must be enforced by the elected executives of the people; these powers must not be transfered to any church(es). That is the only thing that the Establishment Clause means to me.

Answer 3

My personal opinion is that an official Loyalty Oath seems like something that belongs in the old USSR or PRC, and not in The Land of the Free at all! But I won't close my eyes and pretend that The Pledge doesn't exist just because I object to it on prinicple. My own thought is that the words never should have been inserted in first place. Religious freedom not only means that our nation doesn't favor any sect over other, it also means that it doesn't favor religion over non-religion or irreligion.

If the "under God" hadn't been inserted a half century ago and there was a movement afoot to insert it now, many of those opposed to changing The Pledge would still be opposed to any change. They may rationalize their opposition in many ways, but the real reason is that they are comfortable with what they are used to.

Answer 4

I know about the Knights of Columbus/anti-communism story

I'm an atheist, BUT I think that people are going above and beyond when they ask other people to not talk about God in their speech. I think that if you're not a big fan of "under God" , you can just not say that part during the pledge. It's unrealistic for any parent to assume "I will teach my kids my religion (or lack thereof) and they won't have to hear about any other religion."

If you have a personal objection, don't say that part or don't say the pledge. Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to say the Pledge or National Anthem, but they have never tried to take those away from anyone else.

Answer 5

If you want to use the pledge as some kind of citizenship ceremony then YES the words 'under god' should be removed for obvious separation of church and state reasons. IF you want to keep the pledge as the meaningless recital verse for elementary kids then leave the words in. The words were added in as some kind of patriotic symbol during the communist scares of the late 50s.

Answer 6

don't let the people who insist that this country was founded by religious men fool you -- it was founded by men who wanted to ESCAPE other people's religion. at best, the vast majority of the Founding Fathers were what are called "deists"; that is to say, believers in something, but not necessarily Hebrew monotheism. these men recognized the tyranny incumbent in religious rule, and did everything they could to prevent it from becoming part of the new nation they helped build.

that said, i agree with a previous poster: i think others like it more than i DISlike it. i don't say the Pledge anyway, other than when i go see my daughter play volleyball, and even that is so i don't embarrass her in front of her friends. that doesn't make me less of a patriot than someone who does, because patriotism doesn't stem from a love of government or flags or symbols, but of the country and of its people.

i don't think the majority of Americans would want the words removed from the Pledge, because it's not really hurting anyone. they probably don't know Eisenhower's reason for including them, nor that there was even a time they weren't in it to begin with... which is just fine. let the religious claim their religion, so long as they don't attempt to legislate their morality on us. let the ignorant remain ignorant, so long as they don't attempt to foist what they believe are new ideas upon us, but which have already failed. let the über-conservative have their über-patriotism, so long as they don't require us to pledge lack-witted fealty to a government that doesn't care if we like them or not.

not to cast a pall on your debate topic (i was in debate, and i know, and i apologize), but this is a non-issue.

Answer 7

No, it should remain, it represents the already established premise upon which our founding fathers created this nation, "God Given."
The liberal press picks up on an issue spouted by the minority and many think it is a majority of the public -wrong.
With regard to Ike, I glad he did it, and took a stand at a time when it was needed.
Did you know that the separation of 'church and state" is not in the Constitution, but it made reference to in the Federalist Papers written by T. Jefferson.
The constitution relates to, the formation of a national religion, which we do not have.

Answer 8

The phrase "Under God" should never be removed from our pledge.

86% of Americans believe in God.

Our country was founded on religious freedom.

Just because Under God is in the pledge, doesn't mean it is referring to just the Christian God.

It can be used by a faiths.

We should not allow the 14% of non- believers who are the minority, re-write this nation's history and religious roots and try to continue their secularization and God removing efforts from this country.

When in fact people escaped their original countries which had only tyranny and oppression to arrive to this new land just to have their religious rights.

Keep in mind that no where in the U.S.A. Constitution does there appear to be anything about the seperation of church and state.

Even if there was, I don't see how having the phrase "Under God" would violate it.

Because it's not like the government is promoting one specific faith over another.

We are a nation under God.

That's how we were founded.

And those roots should not be forgotten.

Let's make sure that we keep up the good fight to keep "Under God" in the pledge.

Answer 9

I DO NOT believe that the word UNDER GOD should be removed - ever!!!!!!
If you think about it they put the words in - I would think- as a way to affirms peoples commitment to America. Do you know about Joseph McCarthy and the red scare in the 1950's? This was a very real time in which people had their whole lives changed because they might be sympathizers with the communists.
Do some research on Joseph McCarthy and the red scare. It will rock your socks off!!!!!

Answer 10

Absolutely, 100%, totally and completely NO!!!!! Our country was founded by men who believed and governed from the belief that God instilled in each of us certain rights. We were born as a nation "Under God", that is our history and our tradition, you cannot change history!
****ADD: God Bless America......should we get rid of this phrase too?