As a St. Clair County resident, a holy kind of pride that rises in my heart every time we stand together for the Pledge of Allegiance—whether at a county board meeting, a township gathering, or a school board meeting. That moment carries a sacred weight: hands over hearts, voices joined in declaring allegiance to the flag and to the Republic it represents—“one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” In those simple words, we taste a shared identity as Americans living under divine favor, remembering that our freedoms and unity are gifts flowing from God’s abundant grace. This is far more than a civic routine; it is a living sign of the Lord’s mercy sustaining our land, echoing Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” And in our fractured 2026 world—where national pride is sagging and polarization runs deep—these moments of public allegiance become a quiet but powerful summons for God’s grace to once again heal, bind, and bless us as one people under Him.
Rituals like this are stitched into the fabric of every people and place—from Israel’s covenant renewals in Deuteronomy to communal oaths in African villages, to Shinto ceremonies in Japan, to the singing of national anthems around the world. They shape a shared identity, honor a higher power or common ideals, and seek blessing over a community’s life. In America, the Pledge is our distinctive civic liturgy: a humble acknowledgment of, and even a plea for, God’s continued grace over this nation.
A Historical Foundation: Rooted in Faith and God’s Enduring Grace
The Pledge grows out of America’s God–honoring heritage. First penned in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister shaped by Christian conviction, it appeared in The Youth’s Companion for national school celebrations of Columbus Day and quickly spread across the country. Bellamy’s original line—“one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”—resonates deeply with Micah 6:8’s call to “do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God,” giving civic language to a biblical vision of righteousness and fairness.
As waves of immigrants arrived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Pledge became a unifying confession in schools and public meetings, drawing diverse peoples into a shared American identity rooted in common ideals rather than blood or tribe. In 1942, Congress formally recognized the Pledge, and the following year the Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, rightly protected voluntary participation, affirming that allegiance cannot be coerced but must flow from conscience.
Then in 1954, at the height of the Cold War, President Eisenhower supported the addition of “under God” as a clear stand against godless ideologies and as a public acknowledgment that America’s freedoms rest not merely on human power, but on divine providence. That simple phrase lifts the Pledge into a prayerful register, inviting God’s continued grace and guidance over our national life, much like Psalm 67:1–2 pleads, “May God be gracious to us and bless us… that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.” Support for the Pledge remains strong today, with recent polling showing that a solid majority of Americans still want it taught and spoken in our schools—evidence that this civic confession continues to shape hearts, not just fill air.
“One nation under God” is a humble cry for the Lord’s grace to exalt our nation, as Proverbs 14:34 declares: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
God’s Grace Binding Us in Unity
Historically, the Pledge functions as a kind of social glue in a fragmented age, much like the shared rituals found in every culture that bind people together and seek blessing over their common life. Classic sociologists such as Émile Durkheim noted that these repeated acts generate a surge of shared strength and identity that reminds people they belong to something larger than themselves. For followers of Christ, that moment often carries an added layer of fellowship and gratitude, as civic unity and spiritual thanksgiving briefly meet in a single, spoken confession.
Data from civic research supports this unifying power. Studies consistently link structured civic activities—like organized discussions, service projects, and repeated public rituals—to higher civic knowledge and greater likelihood of later political participation. In schools, practices like the Pledge can form a moment of reflection on national ideals and civic responsibility, especially when paired with good instruction instead of mere recitation. Here in St. Clair County, where Board of Commissioners meetings in 2025–2026 regularly begin with the Pledge, that ritual of unity helps frame hard decisions around a shared purpose.
Answering the Critics: The Pledge Isn’t Outdated or Coercive
Critics dismiss the Pledge of Allegiance as empty, exclusionary, or a relic of the past, but that caricature ignores its history and impact. Far from hollow, it was originally crafted by Pastor Francis Bellamy to foster unity in a nation still healing from the Civil War and absorbing waves of new immigrants, and it helped strengthen patriotic resolve through school recitations in times of war and national testing. It continues to do so today. Nor is it inherently exclusionary: the phrase “under God,” added in 1954 in response to Cold War atheism, points to liberty, justice, and national unity under a higher moral authority, not to a state-imposed religion. Participation is voluntary, not coerced, as Supreme Court precedent such as West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) makes clear by forbidding compulsory recitation and protecting freedom of conscience. Public backing for “under God” has remained strong as well; surveys decades apart show solid majorities in favor of the phrase, suggesting not a fading relic, but a continuing, and perhaps renewed, openness to acknowledging God in our national life.
A Call to Renewed Faith and Commitment
In our fast-moving 2026 world, the Pledge is not a dusty ritual but a living reminder of the deeper loyalties and bonds that hold a free people together. It calls us to stand shoulder to shoulder—not just under a flag, but under heaven’s favor—so that liberty and justice are more than slogans. Do not merely remember the Pledge; embrace it, recite it with conviction, and live its promises in public and in private. As we do, God’s grace can shape our common life and increasingly make “one nation under God” not just a line we say, but our blessed and truly indivisible reality.