Mitch Martinez

Ms. Oberg

English 10

22 February 2016

To God or not to God, that is the question

Many people believe that the words Under God must be taken out of the pledge

because it is unfair to some, but others see the words as a way to show their love and patriotism

for our country.

The phrase under God should remain in the Pledge of Allegiance. Our founding fathers

built America off of Christian beliefs and the words were put in the Pledge because of the cold

war to show other countries that we are nothing like the communist countries we were fighting.

Many people believe that it violates the establishment clause but, in fact it does not.

Americas founding fathers built the United States with ideas stemming from Christian

beliefs. Under God is merely a recognition of our founders political philosophy that a power

greater than the government gives the people their inalienable rights(Egleko). If we take out the

phrase under God then the pledge will no longer represent the beliefs of U.S. citizens. The

great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the

armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible" (Henry). By leaving the words under

God in the pledge it signifies that the United States is unlike any other country in the way that it

gives religious freedom to its people, but if we take out those words from the Pledge then we

have denied the people their knowledge of the importance of religion in their country.
 The words were added to the Pledge in 1954 to signify that we were not God

hating atheists during the cold war. The change emphasized and celebrated the distinction

between the United States and the officially atheistic Soviet Union (One nation under God?).

The addition of the phrase has since then been a part of our history and should always be a part

of our history. If we take this out then we would be undermining the decisions of our past leaders

and losing the acknowledgment of our past history. The Cold War was a turning point in our

history that showed us that we must keep God in our country or we would become a war torn

society.

Many people believe that religion should not be in the Pledge because it violates the

Establishment Clause, however this is not true. The Establishment Clause basically says that the

government cannot sponsor anything that establishes a specific religion. However, the recitation

of the Pledge does not break this barrier between church and state; Because pledging allegiance

is, by its very nature, purpose, and effect, a secular activity - an individual statement of

patriotism and respect for this country and its primary symbol" (Center for Individual Freedom).

No one is forced to recite the pledge but instead are welcomed to not participate if they feel as if

reciting the pledge is against their religion.

By merely reciting the pledge people are showing their love for the United States, and are

saying that the nation is protected by God. If the words are taken out then we are just as any

other country.