History of the Pledge of Allegiance

Thomas Paine · 10-31-2007, 01:36 PM

-written in 1892 at the behest of the National Education Association in an effort to help immigrant children assimilate----"one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"

-written by Francis Bellamy, a former Baptist minister who was driven from the pulpit for preaching about the evils of capitalism

-Bellamy became a member of the Christian Socialist movement

-Bellamy also believed in an absolute separation of church & state (as did most Baptists until the early 1980s); of course, we all know that in 1954, at the height of the McCarthy "Red Scare," the words "under God" were added; it is likely that Bellamy has rolled over in his grave

-originally, the Pledge was recited utilizing a one-armed salute (akin to the "Heil Hitler" salute)

-In 1940, the Supreme Court decided that children could be forced to recite the Pledge or be expelled. In an 8-1 vote, the Court stated in the Gobitis decision that the price for children acting on their faith was expulsion (the Gobitis children were Jehovah's Witnesses). This decision led to the expulsion of over 2,000 kids over the next two years. Worse, mob violence, castration, and even the old standby tarring & feathering were used against JWs over the next two years. There were 355 attacks in 44 states in this brief time period.

-The Court reversed itself in 1943 in the West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette decision. They then decided that forced recitation of the Pledge was a violation of the 1st Amendment's establishment clause. Wrote Justice Robert H. Jackson (who was the chief prosecutor at Nuremburg): ". . .if there is any fixed star in our constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein."

-Justice Harlan Stone (the lone dissenter in the Gobitis case), who investigated conscientious objector claims in WWI, wrote in 1919 that, "It may well be questioned whether the state which preserves its life by a settled policy of violation of the conscience of the individual will not in fact ultimately lose it by the process."

-Barnette is important because it makes a distinction between the privileges of religious institutions and the rights of individuals. No longer would Jewish children, atheist children, or children who adhered to other minority religions, be forced to do things that ran counter to their beliefs or non-beliefs. More cases, beginning in 1947, would begin settling the issue regarding Jefferson's & Madison's wall of separation. Everson v. Board of Education (1947) and McCollum v. Illinois (1948) were the first of these Establishment cases. Wrote Justice Hugo Black in 1947, "The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impegnable.

This leads me to the point of this post. Let's restore the Pledge to its original state. The Pledge as it stands today is a slap in the face to approximately 14% of Americans who hold no theistic beliefs. Start by purchasing these posters for your own local school. I just passed out four dozen at my kid's school this morning:

http://www.bank-of-wisdom.com/images/pledge.jpg

Ordering information (and I have ZERO ties to this website): Bank of Wisdom - Product Catalog

Thomas Paine · 10-31-2007, 01:47 PM

A very interesting history of the addition of the words "under God."

http://www.bank-of-wisdom.com/pdf/confession.pdf

Coolio43 · 10-31-2007, 04:24 PM

Adobe and a very OPEN mind required.

Thomas Paine · 10-31-2007, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coolio43

Adobe and a very OPEN mind required.

Sorry you don't have Adobe. Wish I knew how to get that PDF made into something you could read. . .

Coolio43 · 10-31-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas Paine

Sorry you don't have Adobe. Wish I knew how to get that PDF made into something you could read. . .

Convert the .pdf file to Microsoft Word TP. I refuse to read "lies" about our FF.

Thomas Paine · 10-31-2007, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coolio43

Convert the .pdf file to Microsoft Word TP. I refuse to read "lies" about our FF.

Not sure what you mean about "lies." This is just a cut & paste job from some Knights of Columbus documents. A succinct history of how "under God" was added to the Pledge. At any rate, I don't know how to convert a .pdf to Word. Care to learn me how?

Coolio43 · 10-31-2007, 05:50 PM

Focus TP. I said FF buddy. You will need full blown version Adobe Acrobat to convert .pdf. to MS Word.

Thomas Paine · 10-31-2007, 05:55 PM

"Knights of Columbus
John F. Kennedy Council #2952
The Pledge of Allegiance
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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.
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How the words "UNDER GOD" came to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States originated on Columbus Day, 1892. It contained no reference to Almighty God, until in New York City on April 22, 1951, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the Pledge of Allegiance as recited at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by the addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation". The adoption of this resolve by the Supreme Board of Directors had the effect of an immediate initiation of this practice throughout the aforesaid Fourth Degree Assembly meetings. At their annual State Meetings, held in April and May of 1952, the State Councils of Florida, South Dakota, New York and Michigan adopted resolutions recommending that the Pledge of Allegiance to be so amended and that Congress be petitioned to have such amendment made effective.

On August 21, 1952, The Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made general and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, The National Fraternal Congress meeting in Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar reolution upon the recommendation of its President, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart. Several State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately thereafter.

At its annual meeting the following year, on August 20, 1953, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus repeated its resolution to make this amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag general and to send copies of this resolve to the President, Vice President, Speaker of the House, and to each member of both Houses of Congress. From this latter action, many favorable replies were received, and a total of seventeen resolutions were introduced in the House of Representatives to so amend the Pledge of Allegiance as set forth in the Public Law relating the use of the Flag. The resolution introduced by Congressman Louis C. Rabaut of Michigan was adopted by both Houses of Congress, and it was signed by President Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954, thereby making official the amendment conceived, sponsored, and put into practice by the Knights of Columbus more than three years before.

In a message to Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart at the meeting of the Supreme Council in Louisville, August 17, 1954, President Eisenhower, in recognition of the Knights of Columbus in originating and sponsoring the amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance, said:

"We are particularly thankful to you for your part in the movement to have the words 'under God' added to our Pledge of Allegiance. These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded. For the contribution which your organization has made to this cause, we must be genuinely grateful."

In August 1954, the Illinois American Legion Convention adopted a resolution whereby recognition was given to the Knights of Columbus as having initiated, sponsored and brought about the amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance; and on October 8, 1954, the National Executive Committee of the American Legion gave its approval to that resolution.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distributed by the Knights of Columbus

Thomas Paine · 10-31-2007, 06:01 PM

I figured out how to cut & paste from a .pdf. Never had attempted such an endeavor before. . .

Thomas Paine · 10-31-2007, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coolio43

Focus TP. I said FF buddy. You will need full blown version Adobe Acrobat to convert .pdf. to MS Word.

Exactly what lies have I told about the Founders? Are you shocked to learn that all of 'em weren't Christians? Is that somehow conflicting with the things you've learned over time?