Why do people get offended about the pledge?

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), a Baptist minister, a Christian Socialist, and the cousin of Socialist Utopian novelist Edward Bellamy

Bellamy’s original Pledge read: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

The pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be stated in 15 seconds. He had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity but decided they were too controversial since many people opposed equal rights for women and blacks. Bellamy said that the purpose of the pledge was to teach obedience to the state as a virtue and that the United States supports the flag.

“Under God” added to pledge recently in 1954, only 54 or so years ago:

In 1954, lobbying by the [Knights of Colombus] helped convince the U.S. Congress to add the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. President Dwight Eisenhower wrote to Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart thanking the Knights for their “part in the movement to have the words ‘under God’ added to our Pledge of Allegiance.”

So some people think that the “under God” part is an integral part of the pledge. Not so. It was recently added to it at the height of the cold war as a way to differentiate the United states from the so-called godless communist Soviet Union.

Its sort of ironic that the pledge was written by a christian socialist, who did NOT want to add anything else to the pledge because he was afraid of offending people who might want to recite it. And doubly ironic that a catholic group that was largely discriminatory until fairly recently added the “Under God” part.

Learn your history folks, or you will be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Colombus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

This has already been well answered above but I’d like to mention that a little reading of the history books will show you countless examples and quotes where our Founders made it clear that this was not a Christian nation by law and that we are free people. You cannot be free if the state forces you to pledge you allegiance to it and tells you that you must acknowledge a god of any kind.

I’m not offended by the pledge - I think it’s unconstitutional and I choose not to say it until the day America wakes up and starts treating everyone as equals. What does offend me deeply are comments like the one Kamex made:

“Your typical atheist, on the other hand, is just an arrogant jerk who gets all flippant and abrasive on the matter because they think they’re better than anyone who believes in a god.”

This is a very bigoted and untrue statement that I challenge you to support, Kamex. How would someone feel if I had said,

“Your typical Christian, on the other hand, is just an arrogant jerk who gets all flippant and abrasive on the matter because they think they’re better than anyone who doesn’t believe in a god”

I bet everyone would have been pissed off and rightfully so. You should be ashamed of yourself and your poor witness for whatever belief system you represent.

The U.S. was not founded under God is some peoples belief.They also dont like “And to the Republic,for which it stands,” some people dont like the Republican Party .Some people also believe they dont get justice.Just a thought

I find this truly amazing - ironic, even…

…why? A non American teaches Americans about history in their own country. :) Sad, but true.

The American education system, if I didn’t think it was failing before, is certainly on it’s way south.

Actually, if you really want the truth, the first people to come to America after the sailors and soldiers were actually criminals who were given a chance to come here instead of remaining behind bars for a long time. The same happened to the first in Austrailia. Well, that aside from the locals of course.

Well In my opinion those people need to get over themselves and look at other county’s if they live in the usa. It doesn’t get any better and just cause were run by a bunch of hyprocrites doesn’t mean were all bad.

Kamex,

Still wanting your evidence to support your bigoted statement or else an apology. The atheist community is waiting…

this was the original salute to “our” flag. and the above posters are correct, the founders of this country made it clear that it was not a christian nation.

Great answer eleni. The arrogance and ignorance of some so-called christians is astounding at times.

The United States was not founded “under God”. It was founded by people seeking freedom, many of whom were also religious, but all of whom wanted the right to live in a free country where they had representation for their taxes. They wanted to be free from all kinds of oppression including religious oppression.

They created a country where all people are considered equal.

An atheist can’t be considered equal if he is forced to recite a pledge with “under God” in it. That is why even many God fearing people think that “under God” does not belong in the pledge.

whatever reason the question was locked was not because of religious differences (the advisors vary in their religious beliefs, but we all believe in tolerance and respect) or because we hate the USA (a lot if not most of the advisors are from the US, and the admins are from the US…)

Your truth may not be everyones truth, however, we do not lock questions because we disagree with the opinions…

If you want to tell me (or any other advisor) what specific question it was, perhaps we can help you…

Some people complain about it not recognizing religions other than Christianity, but that’s stupid because the word ‘god’ in the Pledge of Allegiance can be describing whatever god you wish.

Your typical atheist, on the other hand, is just an arrogant jerk who gets all flippant and abrasive on the matter because they think they’re better than anyone who believes in a god.

so people don’t think God is real and some just don’t like the U.S.A.

I took the OP as a joke. The grammar and spelling seem to be bad in a contrived way.

Was it a serious question!?