The Pledge of Allegiance-4th of July, 2009

Dear Friend

I found this somewhere several years ago, I think it was in one of those e-mail that gets forwarded forever so you may have already seen it. But as the Independance Day is this week- it I thought it was appropriate.

Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance

As a schoolboy, comedian Red Skelton learned the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. This is how Red remembered the patriotic lecture:

I -- me, an individual; a committee of one.
Pledge -- dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance -- my love and my devotion.
To the Flag -- our standard, Old Glory, a symbol of Freedom. Wherever she waves there is respect because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, "Freedom is everybody's job!"
United -- that means that we have all come together.
States -- individual communities that have united into 48 great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose; all divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that is love for country.
And to the Republic -- a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
For which it stands
One Nation -- meaning "so blessed by God."
Indivisible -- incapable of being divided.
With Liberty -- which is freedom -- the right of power to live one's own life without threats, fear or some sort of retaliation.
And Justice -- the principle or quality of dealing fairly with others.
For All -- which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.

And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Red added this personal observation to his boyhood lesson: "Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: 'Under God.' Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that [makes it] a prayer, and that it would have to be eliminated from schools too?"

Of course, "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law that changed the original Pledge. Perhaps Red Skelton wouldn't be surprised at all when in 2002 an atheist in California won a decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals that "under God" is "an endorsement of religion," and therefore, unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that ruling in 2004.

The following is an excerpt from the book, Under God by Toby Mac and Michael Tate.


The pledge of Allegiance was formed largely from the vision of three men: Daniel Ford, James Upham and Francis Bellamy.

Daniel Ford was the publisher of a popular family magazine, The Youth's Companion. Ford's belief in Christ was a great influence on the content of his magazine, and he guided his life and business by Christian principles. With a circulation of nearly half a million, The Youth's Companion was the nations most read weekly magazine in the late 1880's and early 1890's.

James Upham, head of the magazine's premium department, was disappointed that most public schools did not have their own flags, so he launched a campaign wherein school children raised funds to purchase a flag from the magazine. As a result, about thirty thousand flags were sold and flown for the first time in front of America's schools between 1888 and 1891.

In 1892, the country prepared to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus's arrival in America. President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day, October 12, a national holiday for the first time. Upham wanted children across the country to participate, so he began planning the National Public School Celebration that would center on raising a flag.

First, a proclamation from the president would be read, followed by prayer and Scripture reading, the singing of "America," and patriotic speeches. Wanting the children to participate more fully, Upham determined that they should recite a salute to the flag. He enlisted the talents of another magazine employee, Francis Bellamy, who had been pastor at the Boston church Daniel Ford attended. Bellamy labored for weeks and finally brought his composition to Upham: I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. It was published in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892. Thirty-four days later, twelve million schoolchildren across the country recited the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time.

In 1923 and 1924 the words my Flag were changed to the Flag of the United States of America. In 1948, a man named Louis A. Bowman proposed to his fellow Sons of the American Revolution that the words under God be added after one nation- following a precedent set by Abraham Lincoln, who had extemporaneously added those same words to the end of his Gettysburg Address. Then in 1952, William Randolph Hearst caught wind of the idea and began a campaign in his newspapers that helped bring about legislation to officially add under God to the Pledge. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved this change on Flag Day, 1954, and proclaimed, "In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war."

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.

So Dear Friends, I wish you a wonderful 4th of July week with family and friends.

Love, Jan