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Hey here's a surprise, I don't think it belongs there. As someone pointed out it was added over 50 years after it was written (1892) and came into common usage. In 1954 we were in the McCarthyism era and fighting the Cold War against the "godless" communists and it was changed based on a campaign by the Knights of Columbus (A Catholic men's fraternal society) to help reinforce the fact that we were a nation that embraced God. It has been changed several times from it's very first version, and I personally would prefer it to be "restored" to it's pre-1954 version as the events that created that change are no longer relevant to a pledge to our nation's symbol.

Earlier in the week I was listening to my local talk radio in the morning who had a proponent of the current version on as his guest. The guest was explaining how the use of "God" in this case didn't really even necessarily refer to a Judeo-Christian god (Which of course is entirely false and he knew it) and that it merely recognizes an umbrella term for whatever supreme type of being you might recognize and could just as easily be considered to be Allah if you were Muslim. (Oh yeah then why don't we just substitute Allah, or Buddha or Vishnu or The Goddess???) However at the end, when the host asked him what he would like to happen, the guest, said, "It doesn't really matter because it is in the Lord's hands now". Yeah right. Disingenuous bastard!!

Good point. I think however it becomes more of an issue now that many states are also trying to pass laws that the Pledge has to be said by every student in public schools on a daily basis, or that it has to be posted in every classroom in a prominent position. I can spend my money without having to necessarily be reminded it is there or state that phrase. If state governments were trying to pass laws that you had to actually say "In God We Trust" to the cashier before they could take your money for your purchase, we might in fact be having a similar discussion.

So in my mind it is more the MANDATORY nature of government laws requiring children whose parents may or may not want their children recognizing a Christian god as the single divine force OVER our nation when there is also supposed to be some kind of nominal separation of church and state. I do agree that the founding fathers were basically all Christians of one kind or another and were more concerned about freedom of religion than freedom from religion.

Where my kids go to school (a public Montessori charter school), the teachers and students in their classrooms decided they wanted to say the Pledge, as is, every Friday morning. It was a conscious decision by their school community to honor the flag and our country and I have no problems with this whatesoever and applaud their choice to do so. I'd prefer it if the words, "under God" were not there, but I'm not marching on city hall to get it removed. Their God is not a Christian God, but "it's close enough for goverment work", as they say. I also personally find this CHOICE to be far more meaningful to my children than having my state pass a law that says they have to say it every day as a requirement of their school. Then to me, it simply becomes something you HAVE to do and the words lose all their meaning over time.