Sorry for the length…
March 21, 2003
Charles A. Freitag (letters, March 9), has it wrong. As senior citizens, my wife and I remember vividly saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school without the phrase �under God.�
In 1892, Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance for the magazine Youth�s Companion. He was a deeply religious man and a strong believer in the strict separation of church and state. He opposed parochial schools because he believed that the state should educate all of our children. He intended that the Pledge of Allegiance would be a unifying statement for all children regardless of religion.
In 1954, Congress added the phrase �under God� to the Pledge of Allegiance in an attempt to distinguish U.S. politics from Communism. Like so many other changes made by Congress for political reasons, the change further divided our nation rather than unifying it.
Bellamy had it right: A Pledge of Allegiance that does not include God as a requirement invites all Americans to participate in patriotism.
Incidentally, President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, opposed the use of �In God We Trust� on coins as a serious violation of the American tradition of separation of church and state.
�Roy A. Ockert Sr.
Salem