Recently, a teacher had school security escort a Maryland middle school student from her classroom when she refused to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. The school later stated that the student was within her rights not to stand, but the action reflects the strong devotion many Americans feel toward the Pledge. Indeed, a lawyer speaking to the Washington Post reported that the student was "mocked by other children in her class and has been too traumatized to return" to school.[i] Is it un-American to not pledge one’s allegiance to the flag?

Many feel that the Pledge is an important practice rooted in the founding principles of our country such as democracy, liberty and a Judeo-Christian heritage. Presbyterian minister George M. Docherty - considered one of the key figures behind the effort to add the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance,was one of these.[ii] Docherty’s passing in November 2008 and the Maryland incident offer an opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the history of the Pledge and consider the ongoing role it plays in our society.

During a visit by President Eisenhower in 1954, Docherty preached that "To omit the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance is to omit the definitive character of the American way of life."[iii] In an era when Americans sought to differentiate themselves from “godless communists,” Eisenhower took this message to heart.

He stated that “These words will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded.” A bill making the change was signed into law later that year.[iv]

What are the implications of so closely connecting worship of God and allegiance to a symbol of state authority? Eisenhower’s comments underscore how the addition of the two words “under God” explicitly links the state with religious belief. Sociologists classify this phenomenon as “civil religion.”[v] But this link goes deeper than those two words would suggest. To get a sense of why, perhaps it would be helpful to consider the origins of the Pledge itself.

While the roots of the Pledge do go back further than the Cold War, they do not go back as far as some might think.“[T]he practice of imposing a loyalty oath on the general citizenry does not date back to the founding of the Republic,” writes Matthew Cloud in The Journal of Church and State,“but is a product of the rise of nationalism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”[vi]

In fact, the Pledge of Allegiance was drafted by the Baptist minister Francis Bellamy in 1892. Bellamy was a Christian socialist who advocated the nationalization of the economy and preached about the socialism of Jesus.[vii] In order to inspire greater devotion to the state, Bellamy came up with a plan to salute symbols of state power. When the Pledge originally appeared, it included instructions for students to salute the flag with an out-raised hand.[viii]

Bellamy, however, was not alone in seeking to inspire devotion to authoritarian governments. In the early decades of the 20th century, Italy and Germany both adopted similar salutes. Wishing to keep the Pledge but ditch the Nazi overtones, Congress chose to adopt the hand-over-the-heart gesture we know today.[ix]

“The concept of ‘allegiance’ is feudal. In medieval Europe, the liegeman, or subject, pledged allegiance to his liege lord,” argues Michael Lind. “In a republic, the people should not pledge allegiance to the government; the government should pledge allegiance to the people.”[x]

There is no doubt that the Pledge inspires powerful emotions. But a history such as this should cause Americans to ask serious questions about why that is so, and whether such emotions truly foster genuine religious belief or support the principles upon which our country was founded.

“Why do so many conservatives who, by and large, exalt the individual and the family above the state, endorse this ceremony of subordination to the government?” asks columnist Gene Healy. “Why do Christian conservatives say it's important for schoolchildren to bow before a symbol of secular power?”[xi]

It is worthwhile to weigh the merits of wedding the devotion we display by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to our understanding of what role governments at all levels should play in our lives. Looking back over the twentiethcentury, we may also wish to offer thanks that we live in a society where this devotion is not obligatory.

[i] Johnson, Jenna. “Pledge of Allegiance dispute results in Md. teacher having to apologize,” 24 February 2010, The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/23/AR2010022303889.html.

[ii]“His push got 'under God' into Pledge of Allegiance,”The Los Angeles Times, 1 December 2008. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/01/local/me-docherty1.

[iii] Gibb, Tom. “Minister reprises 'under God' sermon,” 19 August 2002, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/nation/20020819pledge0819p1.asp.

[iv] Schulkers, Randy. “A few more points on the Pledge,”Powhatan Today, 15 July 2009. http://www.powhatantoday.com/index.php/opinion/article/a-few-more-points-on-the-pledge/19943/.

[v] See Wimberley, Ronald C. and William H. Swatos, Jr ., “Civil Religion,”Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, William H. Swatos, Jr., ed. http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/civilrel.htm.

[vi] Cloud, Matthew W. "’One nation, under God’: tolerable acknowledgement of religion or unconstitutional cold war propaganda cloaked in American civil religion?,”Journal of Church and State, 22 March 2004. http://bailey83221.livejournal.com/94810.html.

[vii] Healy, Gene. “What’s Conservative about the Pledge of Allegiance?” Cato Institute, 4 November 2003. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3296.

[viii]Ibid.

[ix] Leepson, Mark. Flag: An American Biography (New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005), 171. http://books.google.com/books?id=qqjzyyZjYTEC&dq=Flag:+An+American+Biography.

[x] Lind, Michael. “The Pledge of Allegiance is un-American,” Salon, 16 November 2009. http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/feature/2009/11/16/pledge_of_allegiance.

[xi] Healy. “What’s Conservative about the Pledge of Allegiance?”