There’s a meme going around, it does so right about this time every year. It’s the text of the Pledge of Allegiance followed by an implied admonition of those not “patriotic” enough to repost it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the Pledge, it’s quite a poetic credo, but memes annoy me, so I have to note that this meme includes only the 1954 version of the Pledge.
I’m actually more fond of the Pledge the way Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and Christian Socialist, wrote it in 1892:
“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
Hear that? “My flag.” When’s the last time you said that out loud? Say it now. Feels good, doesn’t it? So does that last bit: “One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” One nation. Indivisible. When’s the last time you said that?
The pledge evolved. It gained a “to” later in 1892. But it really changed in 1923:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
Did you feel that? It’s no longer “my flag” but “the flag.” Our flag. But what flag? Listen: “…to the flag of the United States…” That’s a sense of national identity asserting itself. And that identity gets further refined. In 1924, the Pledge gains two words: “of America”:
“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.”
Still indivisible. “One Nation Indivisible” persists through the Great Depression and two World Wars.
But the 1954 version? That “under God”? Where did that come from? That’s Louis A. Bowman misquoting Abraham Lincoln. That “under God” disrupts the flow, throws off the poetry. Divides the nation.
Besides, it ruins the old schoolboy joke. “One naked individual, with liberty and justice for all.”
Never forget: America’s government is people. That’s us. We, the people. Of, for, and by the people, naked individuals all.
Are you patriotic enough to repost this?
