"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."

There are people today who question the validity of teaching and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. Opponents claim that students are merely reciting something that they do not understand, and so should be discontinued. There are people who claim that it is a violation of their First Amendment rights. And others simply see no reason for it in the first place.

Since its inception, the Pledge of Allegiance has met some kind of criticism, from almost every possible angle, and still come out on top.

Let’s start with a little background information to make sure we are all playing on the same field. The Pledge was originally written in September of 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister.

The original intended meaning was to show allegiance to the flag of the country that you happened to be from. Bellamy intended it to help bring about unity after the Civil War, and also to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. And originally it read,

“I Pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all.”

From here it starts to take a more nationalistic turn. In October 1892, President Harrison proclaimed the Pledge to be used in public schools, only 1 month after it was written. In 1923 the term, “my Flag”, was changed to “the flag of the United States.” A year later, the clarifying “of America” was added. And it was officially recognized by Congress as the national pledge in 1945.

Before World War II, the traditional way to recite the Pledge was, to start with your right hand over your heart. At the words, “to the flag”, you were supposed to direct your right hand towards the flag in with an upward palm, symbolizing the raising up of the flag. However, due to the similarity to the Nazi salute, the hand motion has been omitted since.

Many court cases have come to light, and the majority of them by atheists, stating that the recitation of the Pledge infringes their rights to free religious practices.

More often times than not, these cases fail. There is no binding agreement that states that the words, “under God” must be recited. If you do not believe in God, just don’t say the words! If a parent has an issue with it, it is a solitary issue that should stay that way.

The words, “under God,” were added in 1952 when a group of lawmakers decided that if there was to be a national pledge, it should echo the feelings and thoughts of the people who were responsible for creating the country. Particularly they sought these two specific words because they echoed the thoughts of Abraham Lincoln from his Gettysburg Address.

The United States was founded on the backs of men (and women) that not only fought religious oppression, but also taught religious tolerance. The basis of the majority of the laws in today’s society are based on Christian principles.

As I stated before, there are people who do not see the importance of teaching the Pledge to young students. Saying that they are merely reciting something that they do not understand, and that it should be stopped based on that alone.

I ask this question then; Should we stop ALL memory recitation of our young children? Can anyone honestly tell me that a 4-year-old can understand the entire complexity of learning their ABCs? Or that a 5-year-old can grasp all the wonder that will follow by learning to count to 10?

These are but two examples of what we have all had to memorize and recite as we grew up. The meaning and importance of them were not revealed to us until years after we learned them. Should that be the reason why we should not teach our children to be proud to be citizens of the United States of America? I, for one, am VERY glad that all of my children proudly say the Pledge every day at school and every word of it too.

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