The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy and originally read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  In 1924, the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution changed the Pledge's words, "my Flag" to "the Flag of the United States of America".  In 1953, the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic men's group, campaigned to add the words "under God" to the Pledge.  On June 14, 1954, it was signed into law. (link)

On that note, I'm not surprised that people want to take the words "under God" out of the Pledge.  They weren't there to begin with, and they were added during a time of national fear and patriotism.  And who recites the Pledge?  Kids.  So a lot of parents don't want their kids to feel obligated to say something that the parents don't believe. 

And when you think about it, it's just not true:  we're not a nation under God.  We might have been at one point, but even that's questionable.  And even though the vast majority of people in our country claim to be Christians, it doesn't mean they actually are.  This is because the idea of a "Christian" has changed from being a follower of Christ to believing in an idea.  Belief in an idea doesn't define a person.  Actions and words do.  So when we recite things that make us claim that we're "under God," it understandably makes people uncomfortable.  So in a sense, I'm glad people want to remove these words from the Pledge.  At least they recognize that their words don't reflect what they believe. 

At the same time, I have to admit that I'm at least slightly unhappy that we're removing God from our schools altogether.  It's just another reason for me to send my kids to a Christian school or home-school them.  We'll see. #religion