The Pledge of Allegiance is spoken daily in many schools throughout the United States. During the last several years this fact has become a source of contempt for many parents, who do not promote a particular religious belief in their homes. Reciting wording specific to a particular set of religious beliefs has recently caused some problems concerning constitutional validity, the ideals of our founding fathers, and even the basic reasons for the pledge to exist, however there is a simple solution, that could satisfy all Americans, whether they question the wording "under God," or not.
The words first known as the pledge of allegiance are now simply a base for the current pledge. This base was first published in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. In the fall of 1892 children began to recite the unperfected version of the recitation that is now familiar to all Americans. There was no mention of God; in fact God was not mentioned through several revisions.
After fifteen failed attempts by Congress to change the wording, during the Cold War Dwight Eisenhower attended a sermon given by Reverend George Docherty. Reverend Docherty belittled the Pledge of that time saying "it could be the pledge of any republic" (). The president agreed with Reverend Docherty's sentiments and three days later a bill was proposed. Five months later the words "under God" were added in a joint session of the House and Senate.
The underlying currents of anti-communism and anti-atheistic were present during the speech when President Eisenhower said that "We shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war" (). Pope John Paul II stated after the last change that the pledge had become a "patriotic oath and public prayer." The words under God were put in specifically to make clear the American stand on ...