One Nation Under God

persusive essay for college prep...

Every morning in the United States, schools across America are reciting the pledge of allegiance. “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.” Sounds innocent enough right? Yet, the pledge of allegiance is under more criticism everyday for having the two words, ‘under God’ in it. They have a right to be concerned, but I think that these two words should be in the pledge to stay.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy in 1892. The thing that most people don’t know is that the original pledge written in 1892 isn’t the same pledge that we recite today. The pledge has undergone a couple of changes in the last 115 years. The original pledge read, “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
In 1923 the words “I pledge allegiance to my flag” were changed to “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States.” Then in 1924 the words “of America” were added and finally in 1952, the two words “under God” made their way into the pledge. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved the addition of the two words, not knowing that these words would become so controversial.
The statement “under God” is opposed by some people because they think it goes against the Bill of Rights and the separation of church and state. The Establishment Clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” These people have a right to be concerned about this but is adding ‘under God’ really establishing religion or is it just distinguishing us from the nations who answer to no higher power than the state?
Most people think that since the pledge didn’t have ‘under God’ in it before, that the founding fathers didn’t want the statement to be a part of it. Although, those people also think that the founding fathers wrote the pledge. That is incorrect considering the pledge was written by one person. Therefore, it was based upon one person’s opinions and beliefs. The truth of the matter is that almost all the founding fathers were profoundly Christian and the nation was established on Christian principles. ‘Under God’ is the recognition of the faith of the founding fathers and the inspiration that led us to be the greatest nation in the history of the world.
I think that there’s more controversy in change then there is in acceptance. The controversy over these two words is constantly being fueled by less people. In a recent poll by CNN.com, ninety percent of Americans agree the pledge should stay written how it is and ten percent of Americans say that it should be restored to its original version. You’d think that with such a high percentage to keep the pledge as is, the argument would die down right? Unfortunately that’s wrong, we hear more about the ten percent of people against the pledge than we hear about the ninety percent of people who are for keeping the pledge of allegiance how it is. What is wrong with this picture? Are we going to let that ten percent of people affect the pledge that we have grown up reciting?
If you still are against keeping these two words in the pledge try to think about it this way. This nation is home to approximately three hundred million people all with different religions, cultures and ideas. If the government were to try to cater to all of these different groups, how do you think our country would be able to function? So why do we have to change these two words that have worked for over fifty years because ten percent of the population doesn’t agree with it? It just doesn’t make sense.
I think, while keeping the words ‘under God’ in the pledge there is a way to end this controversy. Any people who don’t agree with those words just don’t have to say them. Why change the whole pledge when all those people would have to do is remain silent during that part of the pledge or just choose not to recite the pledge of allegiance at all? They have the right to their own beliefs, if they don’t believe in the words ‘under God’ then they don’t have to say them. This agreement would save a lot of trouble for our government, who is busy working on more important things.
It is justifiable that the words ‘under God’ should stay in the pledge of allegiance because our nation was founded on Christian beliefs. People who don’t agree with the pledge of allegiance, in my opinion, aren’t respecting our founding fathers and how great they enabled this country to become. People who are offended by the pledge don’t realize that the words ‘under God’ are not a personal attack on them, these words are and always have been the most important words to our nation and its foundation. ‘One nation, under God’ are the words that our country were founded on and the idea that it will forever exist on.