“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Most recently, the debate as to whether the Pledge of Allegiance, which contains the clause, “under God,” can be mandated by various levels of government has centered on just that, “ ... under God.”
Where the division lies between church and state in this country is a critical issue.
Almost 80 years ago, before “under God ...” being added to what was originally written to be a universal schoolroom expression of patriotism, two school-aged children in Pennsylvania who refused to say the pledge triggered a sometimes violent national reaction and the involvement of the U.S. Supreme Court.
One of those children, Lillian Gobitas Klose, died last week at age 90. Her obituary, with the story of her refusal to recite the pledge and of the events that followed, was in Sunday’s New York Times, written by Douglas Martin.
Klose’s family members were members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and to them, the pledge was deemed to be worshiping idolatry. In fall 1925, Klose, a seventh-grader, and her brother, a fifth-grader, were almost immediately expelled by the district’s school board for refusing to say the pledge. The board felt their action was “insubordination,” according to the Times. Klose later said that her friends abandoned her, and her family was jeered on the streets and accused of being Communist or Nazi.
A legal contest began, and in 1940, the Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 that requiring the pledge was not a violation of religious freedom.
The court decision resulted in widespread attacks across the country against Witnesses, according to the Times, including having to drink castor oil, being tarred and feathered, castrated and having a place of worship burned.
And, this was almost 15 years before “under God” would be added in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
After the 1940 court decision, editorial writers, columnists, and Eleanor Roosevelt, criticized the decision. As the Times wrote in quoting The New Republic, the arguments were that with the decision, the U.S. was coming close to “adopting Hitler’s philosophy” (The New Republic) of “ultra nationalism.”
Three years later came a “startlingly rapid judicial about-face,” wrote the Times. The Supreme Court, with different members, reversed its decision with a 6-to-3 vote.
It was significant expansion of the First Amendment, the Times wrote. “The First Amendment, which had previously been used mainly as a defense against overreach by the federal government, was forcefully employed to protect a minority from majority rule.”
Klose continued her education in Witness schools and worked for a time after World War II at the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ headquarters in New York.
The Pledge of Allegiance was originally written in 1892 by a Socialist to be used in classrooms by any nation. It had its advocates in the U.S., and in 1923, “ ... the flag ... ” was changed to “ ... the flag of the United States of America ... ” In 1954, a time when the U.S. viewed with concern the possibility of spreading Communism, “ ... under God ... ” was added.
The Pledge of Allegiance has a history that reflected the times, including in the mid-1920s pushing two children to the forefront as they stood up for their religious rights. That is worth knowing.