“One nation under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 to respond to Communism. Now, more than a third of Americans want it removed.
A poll finds that more than one in three Americans think “one nation under God” should be removed from the official version of the Pledge of Allegiance. The phrase was not in the original pledge — it was added in 60 years ago when the nation feared the threat of communism.
But most Americans are completely unaware the phrase isn’t part of the original — just as many Americans wrongly believe that America was founded as a Christian nation.
A polling company commissioned by the American Humanist Association told 1001 people:
“For its first 62 years, the Pledge of Allegiance did not include the phrase ‘under God.’ During the Cold War, in 1954, the phrase ‘one nation indivisible’ was changed to read ‘one nation, under God, indivisible.’ Some people feel this phrase in our national pledge should focus on unity rather than religion.”
“After seeing this information,” the Seidewiz Group reports, “34% of Americans said they believed “under God’ should be removed from the Pledge, vs. 66% who felt it should remain.”
Unsurprisingly, only about 20 percent of those who support removing the religious reference are Christian. Another 41 percent are of a different faith. And nearly 63 percent do not subscribe to any organized religion.
“The current wording of the Pledge marginalizes atheists, agnostics, humanists and other nontheists because it presents them as less patriotic, simply because they do not believe in God,†Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, said in a statement. “We are encouraged by these findings, which suggest with even a small amount of education, more Americans are in favor of restoring the Pledge to its original wording.†Â
The group is launching a new campaign, Don’t Say The Pledge.
“More than three quarters of Americans felt it was inappropriate to open an official U.S. government meeting with a prayer to Allah,” the pollster notes, “but less than half felt it was inappropriate to open with a prayer to Jesus.”
“Most Americans think atheists are equally as moral as religious people,” the poll notes, “however, more than a quarter think they are less moral.” They add, “more than a third of Christians feel atheists are less moral than religious people.”
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