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Pledge Of Allegiance Essay

646 Words3 Pages

Patriotism is defined as devoted love, support, and defense of one's country. The purpose of the Pledge of Allegiance is to increase patriotism and unity within our wonderful nation. However, the pledge we know and recite today is not the original; the original, written by Francis Bellamy, read “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The words “under God” were not added to the pledge until 1954, 62 years after it was originally written. While the phrase contains only two words, the two words are very powerful. It is not the quantity of words, it is the implicit meaning behind them; the addition of God to the Pledge of Allegiance infringes on the religious …show more content…

The words “under God” endorse religion, and imposing a religious belief onto those who don’t share it contradicts the inalienable right promised by the Bill of Rights. The first amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” While the pledge is not a law, it has been formally adopted by Congress. Some claim that the phrase “under God” is nondenominational as it is a general reference and does not specify a particular “god,” however the phrase does specify that there is only one god, and therefore is not truly all-inclusive. Douglas Laycock, JD, argues that “We can’t have a nation under God unless there is a God. It doesn’t say one nation under our god, or some gods, or one of the gods. It pretty clearly implies there is only one God and if there is only one God, then the God of the Pledge is the one true God, and other alleged gods around the world are false gods” (Laycock). Not only is the Pledge acknowledging religion, it is disregarding the polytheistic and nontheistic religions that exist in our diverse

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I don’t agree that the Pledge of Allegiance violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because you are not praying to anything or anyone. I would agree that the nondenominational prayer does violate this clause. The reason being is that schools are not allowed to require that there is to be a prayer because it comes down to the separation of church and state. Church is where you can go and pray, as well as practice your religion. The state, however, cannot mandate that there be prayer in school because it is not something that they can do because of the First

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Meaning that while laws cannot interfere with religious belief and opinions, laws can be made to regulate some religious practices. For example, Human sacrifices are a part of some religious rituals, but they cannot be tolerated in the United States.  Chief Justice Waite stated that "If we do not make the Constitution the Supreme Law, and allow each person to make up their mind about what law to obey on religious grounds, we would put religious belief over the Constitution." Meaning this would undermine order and the government would only exist in

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This was said becuase the 1st amendment keeps the government from determining when and how people should worship. The authorization of the law introducing a prayer was opposing what the amendment stands for therefore it was unconstitutional. Many early americans have been troubled in the past by religious enforcements and persecution. The Court declared that the Establishment Clause denies the government in having a say in religious exercises. Justice Hugo Black wrote the majority opinnion stating that the freedom of religion means that is not the government 's buisness tocompose official prayers for any group of American citizens.

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2028 Words | 9 Pages

This quote means that it is okay for a president to use religion in his politics and bring a faithful aspect to the table. Separation of church and state is keeping Americans from facing their fears of having a national religion. Americans are religious, even though there are many religions that are practiced throughout the country, we need a president who believes in a God to lead us. Many ask if the government needs religion and honestly yes we do. God has created this beautiful country for us to live on, and the government needs religion to help us

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1082 Words | 5 Pages

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1167 Words | 5 Pages

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1400 Words | 6 Pages

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1315 Words | 6 Pages

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624 Words | 3 Pages

The Pledge of Allegiance was created in 1892 and as seen been the way how most public areas start their day. Now when doing the pledge it is respectful and expected for you to stand in honor of the veterans that have lost their lives for our freedom but some people don’t because of religious beliefs or other factors that are covered by the 1st amendment. In these two articles they show the pros and cons of standing during the pledge and what others think. In the first article, the pro side it states, ”Last year, my final year as a high school teacher before retiring, I had two students who decided to take a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance. I wondered why and framed the question in a way they might not have expected.

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481 Words | 2 Pages

The original had only said “one Nation indivisible” while today's says “One nation, under God, indivisible.” The argumentative topic is that these two short words should not be required to say in the Pledge of Allegiance and that the short passage should go back to being the original.

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960 Words | 4 Pages

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