colonel@sunybcs.UUCP (George Sicherman) (03/08/84)
& Just for the record, the secular reference in the Pledge of Allegiance is an interpolation. The original Pledge ran "... one nation, indivisible, ..." The change was demanded by organizations of people who belived that any patriotic credo must contain some reference to the Deity, no matter how inapt. Perhaps somebody with a longer memory than mine can supply the details. Col. G. L. Sicherman ...seismo!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!colonel
urban@trwspp.UUCP (03/09/84)
I don't know when the "under God" business was added to the Pledge of Allegience, but recall seeing an old movie (ca 1940s) on TV when I was a li'l tyke (ca 1960) in which a group of schoolkids were reciting the P of A without the "under God" clause. I interpolate the addition to be around 1950. "In God We Trust" on the coinage is another comparatively recent addition. Maybe someone should point out to Jerry Fallguy that the country's perceived moral decline followed an INCREASE in the official presence of religion.