America is more than rolling hills of the countryside, bright city lights, winding rivers, and clear air at the top of the mountains. America is made up of wonderful places and people who follow in the footsteps of our forefathers. Our forefathers believed in the separation of church and state. Many people still like this concept, which is why they want to remove the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.

In a short history that was written by Dr. John W Baer, a man named Francis Bellamy wrote a pledge that he wanted all citizens of all nations to use to honor their country. This was written in August of 1892. This pledge stated “I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.” In 1923, this pledge was adopted by the United States which was then added into the dialogue. About twenty-one years later, the words “under God” were added into the pledge. People complain about religion being brought into their everyday lives but I say that this country was formed on Christian values and we can’t even speak of it today without getting rude remarks or dirty looks from the person next to you. God or any religion for that matter is still a part of many peoples lives but that number is slowly decreasing, which is one reason why this country is declining.

The Pledge of Allegiance is connected to the government which is a very big argument people play off of. According to the official website involving the United States Constitution, Thomas Jefferson came up with the idea of the wall of separation. This wall was to separate religion from the government but not entirely. People today think that this wall was intended that the two should not be connected in any way, shape, or form. That is not what Jefferson meant. He was a very religious man who did not want the government to be able to take away his right to practice his own beliefs yet he helped form the government according to his moral beliefs. Thomas stood up and wanted to keep this right for all people. Today some think that there should be absolutely nothing that includes these two major subjects. I say that there is nothing anymore that does not involve government in some way or another. I also think that the government is slowly overriding religious rights without people even noticing. People, especially teens and children, who practice a religion regularly stay on the correct path of life. Believing in something adds to their morals and makes them push harder toward their goals.

Many people in this country today do not have any form of religious beliefs and if they do, it is not the same as others. The ones who want to remove the “under God” argue this point as well. Saying “God” in the pledge is separating and limiting religions, which the government is not allowed to do. While reading the Patheos website, I learned that people within the ages of 30-49 years of age, seventy-seven percent of them perform some sort of of religious practice. Even if you do not believe in the same thing as your neighbors and friends that doesn’t mean you are to stop practicing your own. When I hear the word “God” , I picture my Lord, Jesus Christ. When you hear it, I am assuming that you picture your god. People picture and interpret everything in many different ways including the Pledge of Allegiance. That is why we should not change the pledge because we are allowed to interpret it any way we choose.

A question I have to ask is why should we change the Pledge of Allegiance when it has been around for so long? My parents, and even my grandparents grew up reciting it everyday, I get lucky if my school will recite it once a week. When people from other schools are not allowed to recite it at all because of word choice. If we could change this, I say that we would have to change some federal laws, state constitutions, the currency and even the presidential oath, because the words chosen to be placed into these specific things that all are related to the government. If we change, so many of these our country would crumble down even more than it already has. For the past hundred of years America has been running just fine when we allowed religion into it but for some reason it is banned now and we are just digging deeper and deeper into a hole.

Throughout the America’s history, all of the separations, and being formed under “God”, why should we change anything now? So many people fight for this country and what it stands for, it would be wrong to take that away from them. This is why I am fighting now to keep the Pledge of Allegiance just the way it is.