The addition of “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance was an attempt at taking the idea of “liberty and justice for all” and applying it to the real world.
Since our nation's beginnings, 'native born' Protestants were the self-avowed superior majority. Catholic and Jewish Americans, especially if they were also foreign-born, were not seen as being all-American. The second World War and the subsequent Cold War played a big role in changing who we felt were entitled to that liberty and justice.
White ethnic Judea-Christian distinctions became less important when the men and women were fighting together in a global war against fascism.
The Nazi persecution/mass murder of Jews and Catholics, among other unpopular groups, made this sort of prejudice to be more than just ugly. To simply say, “under God” without a reference to Jesus Christ or any sectarian preference was a product of a nation that wanted to bring Jews and Catholics into the all-American, mainstream.
A similar situation slowly unfolded in post-war America for people of color. People of color were veterans and victims of the Holocaust. Furthermore, winning the global Cold War, especially in developing nations, required that the United States demonstrate a serious commitment to liberty and justice for all people, irrespective of race, color, ethnicity or religion. In the 1950s, this global commitment needed "under God" as equitable point of agreement among a diverse group of people who still had plenty of long-standing disagreements.
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Was this commitment perfect? No. It was a gradual process, that is still ongoing. But the notion that we were all equally God's children, was later invoked by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in one of the best speeches ever uttered; "I have a dream."
Americans in the 1950s were not ready to include atheists or people of polytheistic religions. They were not ready to include the LGBTQ community, disabled Americans, or third political party supporters, and, as we see in the news, women and Native Americans are also still fighting for their liberty and justice.
The Pledge of Allegiance, and the added phrase “under God,” are an attempt to unite a diverse, multicultural nation behind the idea of liberty and justice for all. Every generation has the opportunity to make the attempt better.
Edward TJ Brown lives in Twin Valley, Minn.
This letter does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.
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