Every morning at 7:35, the announcements at PHS start off with the pledge. Students rise and face the flag and give their respect to America. But should the words, “under God” be in the pledge?
Ushistory.org states that the original pledge was “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” This pledge didn’t state that our nation was “under God.”
President Eisenhower wanted Congress to put the words “under God” in the pledge because of the communist threats during 1954. But even with the threats, is putting those two words in the pledge going to stop the threats?
Different families have different religions. How are they expected to ‘respect the country’ by repeating the pledge every morning, yet they have to repeat their nation is under God? How is this fair to everyone in the United States? Should we have multiple pledges for each religion?
The pledge should be kept nonreligious because of the many religions we have in America, allowing us to respect everyone’s beliefs. How is it possible to respect the nation with a pledge when the pledge states that there is a God when some people believe differently?
In elementary school, kids are taught to stand and face the flag and state the pledge every day. Should schools really teach kids that they absolutely have to say it? I don’t remember ever having the choice to not state the pledge until I moved on to high school when I saw other students not rising for the pledge.
“In God we trust” is also found on money. There has been debate about how there should not be anything about God put on money. There have been arguments about this violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. There should be a fine line between religion and government. The money issue is somewhat the same as the pledge issue.
Is stating the pledge preventing any terrorist acts done to the country? Is it really changing the way people show respect for the country? If one person doesn’t stand, is it really going to affect everyone else’s day? “Under God” should be taken out of the pledge, so the people who do not take part of that religion can feel comfortable reciting it.