"For Richard Stans..?"

Wherein we discover the Pledge of of Allegiance is, in fact, a socialist plot...

I have no illusions about truth. Telling it in this day and age is, for the most part, preaching to the converted or more aptly, screeching to the perverted (Yeah, that DOES mean you.)

For any of you who ignore truth when it conflicts with what you believe (about 2/3 of the loveable population of that happy place Al Gore so aptly described as "The United States of Amnesia", the following information is gonna cause you grief.

Pledge of Allegiance was written by a Christian Socialist in August, 1892. He was Francis Bellamy, a Baptist Minister, who, despite his day job, DID NOT include any reference to anybody's deity in his oath. The original words are as follows:

'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'

That's it. A commitment to the flag, the nation, liberty and justice for all.

The word 'to', as in 'to the Republic', was added in October of '92.

The words 'Under God' were added to the pledge during the Witch Hunt days of Joe McCarthy, back in 1954, after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus.

According to Bellamy's granddaughter, he would have resented the change.

For the complete story, visit: http://history.vineyard.net/pdgech0.htm

You may also be interested to learn that until about 1950, the Pledge of Allegiance was said in many public schools with the right hand extended out and upward, in a fashion more like the Nazi's 'Heil Hitler' than the current hand-over-heart. This can be seen in illustrations from The Youth's Companion, the magazine that first published the Pledge.

Even the author of the Pledge had no interest or intention to interdict religion into the pledge. The Pledge is about our nation and our commitment to it. As Mr. Bellamy put it, "We as a nation do stand square on the doctrine of liberty and justice for all.." One's allegiance to these United States is not contingent upon believing in God.

If you are looking for a nice god-fearing, god-obeying, theocratically-based nation in which to live, I suggest you move to Iran or Iraq where other opinions and dieties are grounds for execution. Otherwise, please shut up.

Thanks to my pal Joe Walker for sending me the history of the pledge.