Monday, August 10, 2026

The Pledge of Allegiance: The Way It Used to Be

 


One Nation, Indivisible, With Liberty and Justice For All

I come from the generation when this nation was not yet under God; it was simply indivisible, it had liberty and justice for all, but it was not under God. God got on top of our nation when I was maybe in fifth or sixth grade, and when they added him on it somehow broke up the rhythmic structure of the incantation. You never felt quite right saying the pledge anymore after you had to start sticking the nation under God over the nation every time. He didn’t feel right up there, and maybe we were better off without Him. Given the uses to which God has been put in America, I'd say that, yes, we are often better off without Him.

[excerpted from the book by U.R. Bowie, Here We Be. Where Be We?]


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