Whenever I’m in a group setting that recites the Pledge of Allegiance, there always seems to be some inconsistency between those who say:
one Nation, under God (with a pause between these two segments) and
one Nation under God (spoken as a single statement).
When I was growing up some 30 years ago and God didn’t seem under attack as much as He is today, I always thought the brief pause between these words just made for power statements meant to be spoken with emphasis. For example, I remember saying this pledge in a manner that paused after each statement as follows:
“
I pledge allegiance
to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic
for which it stands,
one Nation
under God,
indivisible,
with liberty
and justice
for all.”
Nowadays, the more I see God removed from so much public interest, the more I think we need to make a concerted effort to keep this part of the pledge together so it cannot be removed as two separate thoughts. In other words, we should say this pledge as follows:
“I pledge allegiance
to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic
for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible,
with liberty
and justice
for all.”
If you look at the http://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title4/chapter1, the version that was signed into law on June 15, 1954, is the way our Pledge of Allegiance was designed – one Nation under God – a single statement without punctuation, meant to preserve the fact that many of our country’s values are based on a connection to God dating back to our Founding Fathers. So let’s make sure we say it that way so this religious tie doesn’t get removed as easily as it was added.
