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The words "under God" were added to the US Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, in a response that began with a campaign by the Knights of Columbus and ended with a sermon preached by a Scottish Presbyterian minister with President Dwight Eisenhower in attendance. But, in a country with a Constitution that calls for separation of church and state, these words have no place in an oath all Americans are expected to pledge.

The preacher, Reverend George M. Docherty, was disturbed when his then 7 year old son, Garth, recited the pledge to him in 1952 and he learned that there was no mention of God. He believed that the United States was founded by, and existed because, of God. In that year, he wrote a well-received sermon, indicating that the words "under God" explained the essence of the country's beliefs. The words were taken from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address: "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "

While many people believe that, based on the context of the speech and the vernacular of Lincoln's time, "under God" meant "God willing", Reverend Docherty didn't think so. He preached the sermon again on "Lincoln Sunday" in 1954 at the North York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, which Lincoln had attended the same year he delivered the Gettysburg Address. President Eisenhower attended the church that day, a custom followed by most US Presidents, and was impressed. Congress approved a bill to add "under God" that year.

So why take it out? What's all the fuss about? Popular opinion and revisionist history indicate that the nation was founded on Christian principles. So it only makes sense to include God in the pledge. Many believe that the settlers came to the United States to escape religious persecution. Some did. But, most came here under other circumstances. Some were under corporate or royal charter or contract to make money. Many others arrived here as an alternative to prison. The US imported slaves who had never heard of God. And let's not forget the Native Americans who were already here.

The Founding Fathers worked hard and thoughtfully to ensure that no one religion would rule the land and that all religions would be treated equally. Thomas Jefferson was reportedly a Deist, and as such may have believed in a god, but not necessarily God. The Constitution was written in a way to protect the minority, such as the Jews in Pennsylvania,

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