A modern makeover for Pledge of Allegiance

From grade one to "eighth-grade graduation" and on into high school, I attended all-black segregated schools. In our elementary school, every day began with "The Lord's Prayer" ("in unison, children") followed immediately by the Pledge of Allegiance led by an eighth grader.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, with liberty and justice for all."

Not once was there ever even the slightest hint or phrase that intimated we were not to anticipate participating in "liberty and justice" for all. True, we did not have it yet, but this was America. We had come a long way from slavery (my great grandfather – whom I had met – had been born a slave but died a free man at 100+ years of age) and this freedom was God's gift. We were taught: This is America, land of the free and home of the brave; "we shall overcome."

In 1954, a resolution adopted by both houses of Congress was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the words "under God" were added. So, in my segregated high school we pledged "… allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, with Liberty and Justice for all" (emphasis added).

Well, imagine my surprise, decades later, when I discovered that my children and grandchildren, who attended integrated schools from kindergarten to high school, were no longer living in one nation "under God."

TRENDING: Nancy Pelosi's election-rigging H.R. 1

Apparently, one family – repeat, one family – in Massachusetts has decided that all other families can no longer live in one nation "under God." Only people who do not live "under God" have any rights. It appears not to matter that the recitation of the pledge is optional. Students (in 45 of 50 states) who voluntarily choose to recite the pledge, should not, of their own free will, be allowed to use the words "under God," as this, in some mysterious way, violates the "establishment clause" (so called) of the First Amendment. In the same mysterious way (by this interpretation), the "free exercise clause" is nullified;

"Congress shall make no law (1) respecting an establishment of religion, or (2) prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (emphasis added).

Let me get this straight; The "rights" of one atheistic family, in one home, in one city, in one state, with one child in one school gets to nullify the rights of all other families (no matter how many children) in all other homes, in all other cities of all other states? (It is interesting to note that the same people who pushed for homosexual marriage are using the same methods and techniques to impose their will to remove God and patriotism from American schools.)

If I were a career politician belonging to a certain wing of a certain political party, I would offer a compromise. Perhaps we could simply rewrite or amend the pledge altogether. How about something along these lines:

"I pledge to offer some measure of allegiance (whatever that means) to the flag of the United States of America, and to the democracy (not republic: A republic constrains; key difference between a democracy and a republic lies in the limits placed on government by the law, which has implications on minority rights) for which it stands; one nation (composed of hyphenated groups (African-American, Hispanic-American, Italian-American, Chinese-American, etc.) with liberty and justice for all" (except those specifically designated right-wing groups and "God believers," as decided by liberal judges).

After all, we don't want to force anyone to acknowledge a God the overwhelming majority of Americans believe in, or recognize the thousands of Americans who have died at home and abroad to protect "liberty and justice for all," do we?

A gentleman many regard as a war hero and a patriot said, "History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster" (Douglas MacArthur).

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