From Patriots to Fools

Will we stand before our Creator and be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Douglas V. Gibbs / Canada Free Press

Americans, when faced with adversity, have always taken what was designed to destroy us, and turned it into something that unites us.  The attacks on September 11, 2001, were designed to divide us, fill us with indecision, and encourage us to huddle in the corner in fear.

Instead, to the surprise of the Muslim World, Americans united, sang songs of patriotism, and honored their dead with memorials and moments of silence. . . while voicing in unison, “We Shall Never Forget.”

The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a socialist that wrote the pledge in the hopes it would create a sense of nationalism, and convince Americans to adopt the principles of socialism, a concept akin to his cousin’s (Edward Bellamy) writings regarding utopianism.  The original Pledge of Allegiance was published September 8, 1892, in a popular children’s magazine, “The Youth’s Companion.”  James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, hoped the issue, which also marked the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America, would encourage patriotism and the display of the American flag in public schools.

President Benjamin Harrison issued a proclamation ensuring the Pledge was first used in public schools on October 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances.  Bellamy hoped the pledge would involve children across the country in a large demonstration of national solidarity and nationalism.

The original pledge was recited as, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”  The salute to the flag was with an outstretched hand, a salute that was later made infamous by the Nazis in Germany.  Because of the similarity of the Bellamy salute to the Nazi salute, removal of the Bellamy salute occurred on December 22, 1942, and was replaced with a hand-over-the-heart gesture.

In 1923 the National Flag Conference called for the words “my Flag” to be changed to “the Flag of the United States.”  The words “of America” were added a year later.  The United States Congress officially recognized the Pledge as the official national pledge on June 22, 1942.

The words “under God” being added to the Pledge was initiated by Louis A. Bowman, a Chaplain of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.  At a meeting on February 12, 1948 of the organization, Lincoln’s Birthday, Bowman led the Society in swearing the Pledge with the two words added, “under God.”  Bowman repeated his revised version of the Pledge at other meetings, as well.

In 1951, the Knights of Columbus also began including the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.  On April 30, 1951, in New York City, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the rest of their Pledge of Allegiance to include the words “under God” after the words “one nation.”  Over the next two years, the idea spread throughout the Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide.  On August 21, 1952, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal.  Copies of their resolution was sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  After various suggestions and attempts to include “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, in 1954 the words were finally officially added.

Read more at CFP:

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/68968