By Same Hyde
The Profile
Mason HS
1st Place
Division 3, News Writing
Bylined Opinion Article
Chances are, you have been lying lately.
Yes, you have probably been lying to yourself, your first hour classroom, and the very nation which you stand upon every single morning at about 7:41am.
For the past couple of years, like zombies, we have recited the same 31 words with our hands over our hearts and our eyes facing the flag.
We recite, “…and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God…”
Uh oh.
Okay, maybe I falsely accused you. My mom says I jump to conclusions too much. I realize that not everybody participates in the daily Pledge of Allegiance, but it seems strange that a free nation is almost subliminally being told to accept certain beliefs with open arms. A simple question that needs to be asked is this: is our nation really founded “under God”?
First, note that the original Pledge of Allegiance written in 1892 did not include the phrase “under God.” It was actually added by President Eisenhower 60 years ago during the Cold War. Congress agreed with the President’s idea that America needed to separate itself from the terrible, atheistic Soviet Union, and apparently adding those two words to the Pledge was the best way to do so.
But with evidence for scientific theories such as evolution becoming more prevalent everyday, it does not hurt to question if America really is a nation under God. Obviously, our nation is full of religious diversity, and not all of these religions include a ‘god’ of any sort.
The United States of America is home to a vast amount of secular people who are still outstanding American’s. Not every atheist in America is burning down buildings, conspiring hate crimes, or supporting communism.
Did America’s founders really intend to build a religious nation with religion at it’s core? The truth is, we were absolutely not founded “under God,”or under any religion for that matter.
In fact, the founders went out of their way to make it obvious that our national government should be neutral regarding religion in order to protect religious liberty for all. It is a complete lie to pledge that our entire country is a nation “under god”, but it is beautiful that we can still live in ultimate, indivisible togetherness.
Excuse my “High School Musical” reference, but ‘we’re all in this together’, whether you believe in God, several gods, no god, aliens, or even that Tupac is still alive.
Please, try not to be salty with me if you are religious and believe in a god. Instead, be grateful that we live in a beloved country that isn’t indebted with civil wars over religious variations and disagreements like most countries across the world.
So go find the nearest atheist and give them a warm hug. Embrace the fact that we are individuals with our own individual beliefs, living in one, united country.
God (or not) bless America.