United States of America, Under God, Pledge of Allegiance

Over on that Great American Institution known as Facebook, I often see the following about the Pledge of Allegiance (or something very similar to it) posted:

I remember all through grade school saying this every morning to start the day... "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!" We no longer do that for fear of OFFENDING SOMEONE!!!  If this offends you then you live in the wrong place. Repost this if you agree. Let's see how many AMERICANS will re-post this & NOT CARE about offending anyone... GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!

Well, guess what. Don't guess, I will tell you.

Prior to 1954, the words "under God" were not part of the Pledge of Allegiance. It was in 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, that President Dwight D. Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today.

Francis Julius Bellamy (May 18, 1855 – August 28, 1931) was a Christian socialist minister and author, best known for writing the original version of the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. Bellamy's original Pledge read:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added. It was at this time that the Pledge of Allegiance was then recited as:
"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."

For further reading, I refer you to:

• The Pledge of Allegiance, Historic Documents, UShistory.org.
• The Man Who Wrote the Pledge of Allegiance, Jeffrey Owen Jones, November 2003, Smithsonian Magazine.
• The Strange History Behind The Pledge Of Allegiance, Kelli Marshall, September 15, 2015, TPM Cafe.
• Under God: The Evolution of the Pledge of Allegiance, Dennis Melamed, November 15, 2016, American History Magazine.
• The history of legal challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance, Scott Bomboy, June 14, 2017, National Constitution Center Constitution Daily.
• Should the Words "under God" Be in the US Pledge of Allegiance?, ProCon.org.
• Freedom, Roland Louis Hansen, May 28, 2012. Roland's Ramblings.

I personally see no reason for anyone, but especially freedom-loving Constitution-abiding Americans, to impose their religious belief system or deity on me or anyone else.