The Pledge of Allegiance has undergone revisions over the years to reach the particular wording we use today. Recently, a stir occurred when various news organizations reported that Democrats at the Democratic National Convention omitted the phrase “under God” from the pledge when the pledge was given at the 2020 convention.
This
is false.
Posted
immediately below is a 29-second video of the pledge from the last night of the
convention. You will find the phrase
“under God” there. It was used every
night at the convention.
It
is true, however, that the phrase “under God” was omitted at a couple of
individual caucus locations. The
omission of the phrase is strangely not strange. It was not intended to be there in the first
place. Following is a brief history of
the Pledge of Allegiance I found at www.ushistory.org:
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the
socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published
in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892. Bellamy had
hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.
In its original form it 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, "the Flag of the United States of
America" were added. At this time it 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."
In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times,
President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under
God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy's daughter
objected to this alteration. Today it reads:
"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."
I
am fine with the pledge as it reads today.
Go for it. I will follow along. At the same time, I don’t get worked-up about
having it read as it was originally written.
My allegiance is to this great country, not any particular iteration of
the pledge.
—Mitchell Hegman
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9sYe1nkyT8
Pledge History Source: https://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm
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