shuamort said:
The problem with your defense is obvious. You're equating "god", or in this case "God" to mean anything. Which. It. Doesn't. You'll need to back up your claim with facts that "God" could mean anything to anyone, including atheists.
If 'God' in the Pledge does not mean whatever one wishes it to mean, please show me the specific instruction or order that dictates who or what "God" in the Pledge is. Show me the evidence that relates "God' to any particular denomination or any specific religion or faith group.
Quick history lesson:
In 1892, a Boston-based youth magazine–a private non-government entity–called “The Youth’s Companion” published the first wording of the a Pledge recommended for school children to recite in honor of Columbus Day that year (the 400th year celebration).
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.” (1892)
The concept caught on and was popular (and purely voluntery) in America’s schools after that.
In 1923, another non-government private gathering of a National Flag Conference added the words to designate the Pledge as one to the American flag as opposed to any other flag:
“I pledge allegiance to the
Flag of the United States,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all,”
(A year later that was changed to be ‘the Flag of the United States of America’.)
The new version was also quickly adopted and voluntarily recited by school children. There was no government involvement at all at this point.
On June 22, 1942, the US Congress included the “Pledge to the Flag in the US Flag Code (Title 36). This was the first official sanction by government of the Pledge that had already been recited by school children for more than 50 years. A year later, as a free speech issue, the US Supreme Court ruled that school children could not be forced to recite the Pledge.
In 1945, the Pledge received its official designation as “The Pledge of Allegiance”.
The last change was made by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954, when he authorized the inclusion of the “under God” phrase in the Pledge. President Eisenhower's official proclamation was:
"In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource in peace and war."
There is no mention of a specific religion, Christian or otherwise, or any specific relgious instruction. It is an affirmation of the importance of religious faith in America’s heritage and future. It is still important in America’s hertiage and future. When it no longer is, the phrase will certainly be dropped. Until then, it is in no way an establishment of religion, it is in no way mandatory for any person to say, believe, or act upon and there is no consequence for saying or not saying the Pledge, and thus is it not unconstitutional.