How did a secular oath penned by a socialist become the patriotism litmus test amongst conservatives?
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The American Pledge of Allegiance was written by the socialist New Yorker Francis Bellamy in 1892 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus sailing to our continent. It did not include the phrase “under God.” That phrase was added by President Eisenhower in 1954, in response to a sermon by a Presbyterian minister, Reverend Docherty, in which he stated that the pledge could apply to any nation, but that the central defining characteristic of America was that it was a nation directed by God.
Yikes!
Maybe Americans needed this kind of moral certitude at the time, considering that we were the proud new parents of a massive nuclear stockpile. And maybe we felt that we deserved it, considering that we had recently helped defeat the Nazis.
Oh, speaking of Nazis. This is interesting. From the 1890’s until 1942 the proper salute to the flag during the pledge of allegiance was modeled on the Roman military salute. It was re-dubbed the Bellamy Salute. Anyone recognize this?
Yep. Fascists thought it was a great gesture to use as well, so we dropped it. Whoops!
Now, I don’t know that the pledge is an all bad thing. It does strike me as inherently a little frightening. But, I love my country and I’d feel comfortable saying it. I do feel allegiance to this republic. It was the world’s first truly secular republic, and I think that’s something to be proud of. But, obviously, I have trouble with pledging my allegiance to a nation “under God.” I don’t think that makes me unpatriotic. That just means that I take objection to one of four amendments to a pledge written by a socialist (Not to demonize socialists; I just want those Glenn Beck supporters to take note).
I started to think about all of this recently upon reading about the case of Will Phillips (click here).
Interesting stuff, no?