Andrew Haas

Mrs. Oberg
English 11
1/23/15
Should Under God Remain in the Pledge of Allegiance?
The pledge of allegiance is considered by many as a very
important piece of American culture and history. Most people dont
know that Francis Bellamy composed the pledge of allegiance, in 1892.
It has been changed many times since its creation. I think that we
should change the pledge and get rid of under god. My reasons for
this idea is that the founding fathers believed in a separation of church
and state, not every one has a god that they believe in, and that it was
not in the original draft of the pledge.
One reason that I think that under god should be taken out of
the pledge is because our founding fathers believed in a separation of
church and state. The anti-Defamation League stated in one of their
articles, While it is true that the words 'separation of church and state'
do not appear in the Constitution, the writings of key Founding
Fathersthe founders intended a separation of church and state to
ensure religious freedom.They knew that people would try to merge
politics and religion together. They wanted to keep the church not in
politics so that religious groups would not be persecuted in this
country. It is easy to see that they havent prevented by looking

towards all the religious minorities that are not treated fairly in this
country. Also they wanted to avoid it so that anyone could be
president. Almost all of the past presidents can be considered
Christian. This makes is harder for a president from any other religions
to be elected.
Another reason that under god should be removed is that not
everyone has a god that they believe in. Many people are atheists and
feel that their opinions are not included in the pledge or that they are
being forced to acknowledge a God that they dont believe in. This idea
is shown in by the AUSCS in one of their articles, Millions of Americans
who have no religious beliefs or who object to religious-political
entanglement were alienated.Some feel as if they have to believe in
god if they want to be patriotic, be seen as a true American. Many who
oppose this side would say that it isnt a big deal and that it takes too
much work to change the pledge of allegiance. The fact that saying the
pledge every day is mandatory for children adds to the problem of
leaving under god in the pledge. Many children may unintentionally
be influenced by the pledge.
My last reason for wanting to remove under god from the
pledge is that it wasnt initially in the pledge. Many people think that
the pledge was made soon after the revolutionary war. They think that
it has been a part of American history since the beginning. They dont
know that it was actually published by Francis Bellamy in a magazine

as a part of Columbus Day. Many people dont know that under god
wasnt added until 1954. Eisenhower told Congress to add under god
in response to the Communist threat of that time period. Even his
daughter objected to the change of the pledge, Bellamy's daughter
objected to this alteration. This is evidence to the fact that Francis
Bellamy most likely would have objected to this change of the pledge.
In conclusion, I have many reasons to want to remove under
god which include the fact that the founding fathers want the
separation between church and state, the fact that not everyone has a
god that they believe in, and that it was not in the original pledge of
allegiance. Although many consider this a not very controversial topic,
I still believe that it must be discussed so that America can solve one
of its many religious and political problems.

References:
http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm
http://www.adl.org/civil-rights/religious-freedom/c/the-firstamendment.html
http://undergod.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000071