Under God? | Teen Ink

Under God?

April 19, 2017
By babygirladdison03 BRONZE, Thornton, Colorado
babygirladdison03 BRONZE, Thornton, Colorado
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

“One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” The Pledge of allegiance is something that is said in schools across the nation on a daily basis. That includes the phrase “under God”. This phrase shouldn’t be taken out because it supports the principles that this country was founded upon.


By taking away this part of the pledge then that means that the Supreme Court  isn’t respecting the principles that the country was founded on. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This means that we the people have the right to say whatever we want in regards to religion, we have the freedom to represent our religion in whatever way. The country was founded on principles that respected beliefs of the founding fathers. They based their principles on their beliefs which is what created the freedom of religion. Some people may argue that by having the phrase “under God” in the constitution it is excluding other religions that aren’t based on God. That wasn’t the intent of the people that added the phrase “under God” to the constitution, the intent was to strengthen the image of our country to other countries.
For more than two hundred years many expressions of national identity and patriotism have referenced God, according to procon. The supreme court opens each session by saying, “God save the united states and this honorable court.” The supreme court has acknowledged that by saying phrases like that, we are being totally constitutional.  Others may argue that by saying the pledge young children are swearing their loyalty to a country under God.  That isn’t true because there are no laws stating that young children need to say the pledge everyday at school. You don’t need to say it, there is no law holding anyone to saying the pledge when others are reciting it. If the pledge goes against your religion you don’t have to say it at all.


Saying the pledge everyday strengthens our country and shows that the United States is an united front in the eyes of other countries. The Pledge of Allegiance separates the United States from other countries that have no other higher authority than the state. The phrase “under God” shows that the United States is about more than just having power through the state. The phrase “under God” was actually added to the pledge to further separate the United States from the Soviet Union, according to dbbullseye. People may argue that saying the phrase “under God” would be different if we were saying “under Allah” or “under no god”, it wouldn’t be different though because we could still refuse to recite the pledge. Reciting or not reciting the pledge of Allegiance is our first amendment right either way.


In conclusion, by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with the phrase “under God” Americans aren’t  excluding other religions or  having young children swear their loyalty to a country “under God”. Instead the Pledge of Allegiance is respecting the beliefs that the founding fathers based the country on and the Pledge strengthens the image of the United States of America. Therefore the phrase, “under God” should not be taken out of the pledge.



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