Opinion: Living in America is such a blessing

Putting God into the pledge of allegiance and various oaths has been part of American culture since the founding. But recently, the idea of God being recognized in the government is coming under attack.

America has become the greatest melting pot in the world, where people of different cultures have come to live in one nation together. Originally, the U.S., true to its roots, was overwhelming Christian, but as more and more people immigrated, the culture of the U.S. has been influenced by many different religions, as well as atheism. 

Because of this, many people are pushing for phrases based on Christian beliefs such as the phrase “under God” in the pledge of allegiance and the words “so help me God” in court oaths, to be taken out. After all, America was founded on the basis of freedom of religion. 

Some people argue that the phrases are a traditional part of American culture and should be kept because they respect American heritage. However, this is simply not the case, specifically with the pledge
of allegiance.

The phrase “under God” in the pledge of allegiance is actually fairly new. When the U.S. pledge of allegiance was first drafted, “under God” was nowhere in the script. Instead, it simply read: “one Nation indivisible.” The phrase “under God” wasn’t added until June 14, 1954, after President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended a service lead by Rev. George Docherty, who called for the phrase’s instatement. 

Docherty had originated from Scotland, where the people would say things such as “God save our gracious queen,” and he believed that God should be in the pledge of allegiance as well. Docherty claimed that denying the Christian ethic was falling “short of the American ideal of life.” 

Phrases like “so help me God” do have a more historic tradition. After the founding of the U.S., early arrivals to the House of Representatives took an oath that included the words, “so help me God.” But, following a committee headed by James Madison, a new oath was passed that excluded the words, “so help me God.” Many historians claim it was actually George Washington who added the phrase himself when he was sworn in (though this point
is debated). 

Joseph Story, author of “Commentaries on the Constitution,” published in 1833, wrote that the founding fathers sought to ban religious oaths, “to cut off forever every pretense of any alliance between church and state in the national government. The framers of the constitution were fully sensible of the dangers from this source.” 

Article 6 of the Constitution says, “but no religious test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” 

Of course, it is known that many of the founding fathers of America were religious, but they knew that it was not right for the government to intermeddle with religion. James Madison stated that government interference with religion in any way would be “a most flagrant violation,” according to the History News Network. 

But some people still make the claim that the U.S. is a Christian nation. However, even if many of the founders were Christians, the ruling document of the country, the U.S. Constitution, is a wholly secular document.

The U.S. was founded on the belief of separation of church and state. Some people take this to mean that the government is required to remove any sort of religious references from the public square. Not true. Instead, the First Amendment guarantees that the government cannot show favoritism to any certain religion, and it cannot take away any person’s ability to exercise their religion. 

The government cannot be controlled by the church, and the church cannot be controlled by the government. The beauty of this is that separation of church and state does not shut down debate over religion in the public square. Rather, it guarantees that Americans have the freedom to respect-fully have debates about religion. 

This is one of the reasons why living in America is such a blessing. In many countries, simply questioning the established religion is enough to be sentenced to death. But yet here in America, the topic is
debated openly.