When was God added to the Pledge of Allegiance?

I always like to think of a good question for the 4th of July that will make me a better informed citizen.  This year my question was:  Who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance and when was "under God" added?

To my surprise I found out that the words of the Pledge of Allegiance were attributed to a Baptist Minister named Francis Bellamy.  Myself being an American Baptist minister, this made sense to me.  "Separation of church and state" is integral to our founding principal of religious freedom.  Bellamy was working on the National Public School Celebration in 1892 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Columbus reaching the New World (I know, History is messy, but Columbus is for another time.)  The program was structured around a flag-raising ceremony and a pledge that would be recited by public school children.  The year of its writing gave context to the words.  Shortly after the civil war the following words held deep meaning:  one republic, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.  In reflection about his process he wrote: "The true reason for allegiance to the Flag is the 'republic for which it stands'.  ..And what does that last thing, the Republic mean?  It is the concise political word for the Nation - the One Nation which the Civil War was fought to prove.  To make that One Nation idea clear, we must specify that it is indivisible, as Webster and Lincoln used to repeat in their great speeches.  And its future?  Just here arose the temptation of the historic slogan of the French Revolution which meant so much to Jefferson an his friends, 'Liberty, equality, fraternity'.  No that would be too fanciful, to many thousands of years off in realization.  But we as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all..."  

I only wished in my public education I would have known the context of this being written in the after math of the Civil War.  But then in the 50's we didn't learn much about the Civil War and the atrocity of Slavery in the U.S.  That came later and is still coming.  We are still in process of learning what it mean to not only stand on a doctrine of liberty and justice for all, but also how to stand on what it means to live out the reality of liberty and justice for all.  Who and what this includes is the ongoing debate of politics.

Rev. Francis Bellamy did not include under God in the writing of the pledge.  That came later with the Eisenhower Administration in 1954 during the Cold War.  

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-man-who-wrote-the-pledge-of-allegiance-93907224/

http://www.mountmorrisny.com/history/bellamy.htm

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm

Lent is Like Spring Cleaning

“Spring cleaning” was a common household term I heard growing up. It meant washing windows, inside and out, and wiping out the dust in the window sills that had blown through the cracks and collected during the winter.  We took down curtains for washing and blinds for dusting. We paid attention to cleaning corners hidden behind furniture and wiping down the woodwork. We dove into cabinets and closets getting rid of unneeded items as well as the junk that mysteriously showed up.  “Where in the world did this come from?” we’d ask.  Rarely did anyone know the answer.   Whether you were 6 or 60 everyone pitched in to get the work done.  We all were responsible for a task, working together to accomplish a job no one had time to do on their own.   Upon completion we’d sit down and talk about how great the house looked; how good it felt. The house didn’t seem as crowded and we found things we had lost since the last spring cleaning. We took time to admire and congratulate ourselves.  One, because we worked and accomplished a large task together.  Two, because we knew that this moment of satisfaction after our hard work, was just that, a moment.  We’d go back to cleaning with “hitting the high points” as my mom would say, “to keep it up as best we could.”  The prairie dust would find it way into the unseen corners and crevices of the house again.  Items would be lost in the clutter and mysterious things would appear in cupboards. Out grown or worn out clothes and shoes would pile up in the closet.

Spring cleaning was a necessity in maintaining our lives.  We knew that the clutter and dust would become greater than the people who lived in the house if we did not annually sort through the clutter and move the dust and dirt in the corners and windows back outside.

Lent comes every year and it has become for me a bit like a good spring cleaning of my soul.  Physical and spiritual clutter can distract and overwhelm me from what really matters. I dust out the crevices and corners I haven’t had time to pay attention to and clean the windows in order to see more clearly. I get into the back of the closet where old and unused ideas are stashed.  Through practice I appreciate that the cleaning is a necessity or else the dust and clutter will consume the energy of my spirituality. I ask the same questions of my soul as I ask when I clean a closet:  Where did this come from?  Should I even give this away since it is so old?  Can you believe what I found?

Lent invites us to walk with Jesus through the several perspectives presented in the Gospels and cut to the chase of how this life of faith and commitment brings life and light to the world. This editing/cleaning work of Lent can be as troublesome to us as is evidenced by the disciples in the Gospels. Getting rid of old ideas that entomb the spirit of the law rather than liberate the soul is still as essential in following the Jesus Way.  I am completing week two and I am already feeling the load lighten.