The Pledge of Allegiance and its 'under God' amendment

Attendance at various governmental meetings is part of my work for this newspaper. All such gatherings begin with a pledge to the U.S. flag. Alumni of the American educational system will note every class day begins with recitation of the pledge -- a vow of national commitment which does not trace its origins back to the founding of the American republic.

A Civil War veteran, George Balch, is credited with the first pledge, but Balch's version was replaced wholesale, in 1892, by the one we know today, with notable later changes -- crafted by a Baptist clergyman in Massachusetts, Francis Bellamy.

Bellamy was said to have been a vigorous proponent of the separation of church and state, which is a concept not enshrined in the U.S. Constitution but was instead promulgated by America's third president, Thomas Jefferson, in an 1802 letter written to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut.

Bellamy's late 19th century composition will look familiar, although the modern reader will note it appears truncated compared to the version regularly uttered today.

"I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which is stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Changes

• In 1942, "my flag" was changed to "the flag of the United States of America," by Congress, following a 1923 suggestion by the National Flag Conference. The NFC worried that "my flag" might encourage immigrants to value fidelity to their home countries over the U.S.
• In 1954, Congress added the words "under God" between "one nation" and "indivisible." President Eisenhower signed the bill on Flag Day that same year.

Under God

During an adult Sunday school class more than a quarter of a century ago, this writer witnessed senior citizens discussing the "under God" phrase. All who made remarks that morning said they had graduated from public school before 1954 -- ergo, none had recited the "under God" clause in today's pledge during their growing up years. It didn't exist at that time. My recollection of the stimulating conversation that day yielded a surprising conclusion. Those elderly folks, who had not said "under God" as children when repeating the celebrated promise of national loyalty, didn't seem to think the phrase was important.

After all, those two words were not part of their pledge.

As a person born post-1954, I value "under God" in the pledge because for me, it represents the subservience of nations to the Creator, who is supreme over all.

Of course, the pledge as it appears today is all I've ever known.

In 1954, the fear of Communism in the U.S. was alive and well. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin had built his political career on the discredited notion that "godless, card-carrying Communists" were on the payroll of the State Department.

Adding the "under God" pledge in that same year, therefore, appears to have been driven as much by politics as it was by personal conviction.

Drilling down

When a person places a right hand over the heart, deep symbolism is conveyed even if unconscious to us in the moment.

The pledge is designed, it seems to this columnist, to evoke passion and commitment to the country in which we reside, the United States.

"Under God," regardless of the machinations that brought the phrase to the fore decades ago, can serve as a reminder that a sovereign nation, the U.S., is under the auspices of the Creator, the One -- in words of the Christian doxology, from whom "all blessings flow."