First, let me ask you to remove all biases. If you are a Christian, don't look at this from a Christian perspective but rather look at this from a [b][i][u]legal[/u][/i][/b] perspective.
[i]NOTE: Remember that Christianity is not special, and there are roughly 3,000 religions just like it. Also remember that Christianity is not the oldest religion, there are about 8 religious texts older than the Hebrew Bible from which it stems.[/i] http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_religion
"[i][b]Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion[/i][/b], or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." - First Amendment
The Pledge of Allegiance is technically a piece of legislation that was passed by Congress. You can read the U.S. Flag Code and its provisions here: http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30243.pdf
Now, here are the two most recent versions of the Pledge of Allegiance.
[u][b]1924 - 1954 Version[/b][/u]
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."
[u][b]1954 - Present Version[/b][/u]
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation [u]under God[/u], indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Let's not kid ourselves here, the "God" with a capital [b]G[/b] is referring to the Abrahamic God which exists in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Mormonism. It is definitely violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and should not remain in the Pledge. How would you feel if it was [u]under Brahma[/u] or [u]under Zeus[/u] or [u]under Allah[/u] or [u]under Ra[/u] or [u]under Satan[/u]? Chances are, you would feel much different. Religion and government work best when they are [b]separate[/b].
[b]Edit #1:[/b] I understand the Pledge is voluntary, but that isn't the point. The point is that religion has intruded where it doesn't belong. You can't cherrypick the Constitution. And also, I have heard from multiple people that some teachers will make you say it.
[b]Edit #2:[/b] No, I am not offended. No, it really doesn't bother me. No, I really don't care that much. I just felt like bringing awareness to this topic, and see what bungie.net thought about it. This has nothing to do with Atheism vs. Christianity. This is not about my personal feelings or anybody else's. This is simply a matter of the Constitution.
[b]Edit #3:[/b] You either support the First Amendment or you don't. You don't get to pick and choose which parts of the First Amendment suit your own personal feelings.
[b]Final Edit:[/b] I can't believe how many people are whining and crying. Relax, this is just a bungie.net post. You can agree or disagree with it; that's why I made two options (three for the people who don't really care). Why so much butthurt?
[b]Super Final Edit:[/b] This post has made me realize that 70% of bungie.net is made up of whiny butthurt kids. I guess this doesn't really surprise me. Thank you to the other 30% of you who [b]respectfully[/b] agreed or disagreed with me.
[b]My Compromise:[/b] So, I've been thinking, and why don't we just edit the Flag Code to allow 30 seconds for anybody to silently say a prayer, after the pledge is recited? This way, everybody wins. The pledge doesn't endorse any specific religions, and religious people are still allowed to freely express their religion.
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#Offtopic
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77777777 (Why don't my fellow athiests quit being such little whiny bitches and just not say anything when the under god bit shows up? Hell I don't even say the pledge, because I don't have to legally. It's awesome living in america)
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1 답변It is the oldest religion if you are to believe it's statements which clearly state that God has always been
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8 답변I'm not american and I'm not familiar with this. Could someone explain it to me? (Purpose mainly)
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Yes. It should definitely be taken out and probably would be, if Christianity wasn't such a big deal in America. But then again it's not really so ridiculous once you realize you're swearing allegiance to a flag and the whole thing is a meaningless repeated phrase like "bless you."
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2 답변작성자: xgardian 6/10/2015 4:41:19 PMOr how about we just not force kids to waste time every damn morning mindlessly pledging their allegiance? Even if it's not "forced" it can easily feel like it is.
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8 답변
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작성자: Capiton Render 6/10/2015 1:44:06 PMYes, so is in god we trust, what if i trust in thor and odin, then it should be gods, or what about the many face god, would it be gods and or god? Separation of church and state yo Also for you kiddos that havent done research on the topic, the god part was added in the late 50s as a response to communism.
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1 답변작성자: Shiloh Ivy 5/10/2015 3:00:44 AMI don't see why this is a big deal to you. It has absolutely no bearing on anything that really matters. It doesn't give anyone special rights or take away anyone else's rights. I feel like your making a big deal of nothing. Edit: When it says "God" it doesn't point out any specific religion. It could just mean a higher being. And at this point, it would be nearly impossible to change the pledge of allegiance now, not many people would agree with you.