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.
This is the standard invocation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. The Pledge was first published Sept. 8, 1892, but the phrase, "under God", was only recently (1954) added by an act of Congress. More than any of the other wording, these two words have probably contributed more to the demise of the public recitation of the pledge. It is probably time to revert to the original, invoking separation of church and state. Granted, small or ordinarily mundane things have immense symbolic value, but my allegiance is to the republic, not to the flag (which, for it stands). So, I propose another revision:
I pledge allegiance to the republic of the United States of America, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
That has a familiar ring to it, removes the irreligious idolatry and
separates church from state, it's shorter and it's more meaningful. Besides,
if there is liberty and justice for all, the nation will stand under
God.
Check out the following pages:
John W. Baer,
World Almanac,
John Crouch,
Wayne Powers
(who objects to "indivisible"),
Warren S. Apel
(the Flag-Burning page) and finally,
Charles Evans Hughes courtesy
of Duane Streufert, but don't forget the
opposing view.