today, i saw this on a friend's facebook page:
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!MY GENERATION GREW UP RECITING THIS EVERY MORNING IN SCHOOL WITH MY HAND ON MY HEART. THEY NO LONGER DO THAT FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING SOMEONE!
LET'S SEE HOW MANY AMERICANS WILL RE-POST THIS AND NOT CARE ABOUT OFFENDING SOMEONE [caps not added]
and i almost replied: "did you think to ask why people are offended?"
i dont understand how people equate supporting separation of church and state with an aggressive attack on god. if this is the case then the constitution is also an attack on god.
here is my fundamental problem with this debate. taking "under god" out of the pledge does not force god-believers to make an acknowledgement that god does not exist; however, having it in the pledge DOES force non-believers to make an acknowledgement that god does exist--usually in a public setting, no less.
as a side note: the pledge of allegiance was written in 1892, and the phrase "under god" was not added until 1954.