When I was in high school we said, "One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The phrase "Under God" was added then. At that time I thought the Pledge of Allegiance was right up there with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. It wasn't until many years later that I learned that the Pledge was a construct many years later of a politician seeking to curry political favor with the voters.

I refused to say the Pledge after the first day of the term my freshman year in high school. When the principal confronted me with the demand to say it every day, I told him (at the tender age of 12, this was) that I was not so stupid that I have forgotten my allegiance overnight and I did not need to say it every day to remember.

My small New England town was set on its ear. He said then would I just stand up as a mark of respect when the Pledge was being said. "Sure," I replied and that was the last I heard of it.