An interesting discussion of the Pledge over at The Volokh Conspiracy (interspersed with quite a bit of noise surrounding the KKK and its role in the separation of church and state).

I've reiterated in the comments over there some of the same things I've said over here from time to time.

Issues of religious speech and idols put forth by the government aren't going to go away, and they shouldn't until they're satisfactorily resolved.