Pledge

So there was a minor scandal recently.  We had no broadcast of our morning announcements via the TV as usual.  So our principal made them over the PA system, including reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  Well...  he recited the original pledge as revised in 1923.  That's right.  He said it without "under God."  I noticed it and thought "Good on you!"  Other teachers heard it and needless to say, they did not think the same thing.

There were a few people who asked me if I noticed it.  I answered in the affirmative.  I also mentioned that "under God" was added relatively recently.  Well, one colleague said she remembered it in there her whole life.  I told her it was added after WWII.  In my mind, considering the long life of the pledge, that is relatively recently.  However, these people thought this was an abomination.

The "under God" was added in the 1950s due to the Red Scare.  I have read that the Knights of Columbus were the impetus behind President Eisenhower's request of the change.  This history site notes that the pledge's daughter did not approve of this change.

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm

So, there you go.  I am of a religion that does believe in God.  I do not give specifics because as public school teachers, we are to be mum on that and our political beliefs.  I also know that there are colleagues in my building who do not follow this rule (The guy who proudly hangs a pic of Ronald Reagan, but no other president; the gal who brought students to her church one Sunday, but I digress).  However, hearing my principal recite the pledge as it was intended did not offend my religious beliefs at all.  There are bigger things to worry about here, like near homeless kids, hungry kids, kids with no electric at home, kids who have lost a parent or both, and on and on. I sure wish my colleagues would put the energies somewhere more beneficial.