Some people object to "under God" in the pledge

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Some people think that "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and "in God we trust" should be removed from money. What's next? Will the restaurant TGI Fridays need to change its name?

"In God we Trust" was added to US currency on July 30, 1956. We, as a country, were fine before then. No need to have it on our money now.

Many of the same people also think that "E Pluribus Unum" is a better slogan than "In God We trust".

This topic may be better suited to the religion subforum.

Regarding your question: It should be noted that the restaurant TGI Fridays is a private business so it wouldn't be subject to changes such as the ones mentioned. Citizens have a choice about which businesses they use.

Hardly the same things as TGI Fridays.

The nation did fine without mentioning God on the money , and without mentioning God in the POA for all those years before 1956 when a pressure group succeeded in putting those arbitrary additions onto the money, and POA.

Not only is the restaurant chain a private company, not subject to the Constitutional rules of seperation of church and state, but "thank gawd it's Friday" is just an expression used by the religious and non alike. It doesnt promote religion.

Not saying one way or the other whether the slogans should stay or not, just saying that its the presence of the slogans that are arbitrary, and a possible over reach. Not the removal of the slogans.

And exactly which "God" are you referring to?

And how do you preserve the separation of church and state? And why are you giving primacy to that god over the state?

As I recall, taking the Pledge of Allegiance is not mandatory.

The Supreme Court has not ruled on the subject, to my knowledge, so the highest court to have ruled appears to be United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit, which decided that - voluntary - pledges of allegiance in Massachusetts which used the word "God" were constitutional:

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-1st-circuit/1544507.html

That being said, I can see how some people find the passage offensive given how politicized religion is in the US.

^ While I think it's correct that it's not legally mandated, in some states, schools, or classrooms it is required. I was in a discussion about this recently (cannot remember where) and roughly half said they were required to partake in the pledge of allegiance every morning in school (k-12). I too experienced this. Many of my teachers would insist that everyone partake. In various classrooms I often attempted to sit out, usually getting scolded for it.

^ 10 year old me would have loved that

I would be perfectly happy if we didn't force kids to recite it every day--or ever! IMO there was no need to insert "Under God," (just another score for the thumpers) and either way, there's a certain air of brain-washing to it. I went along with it as a kid and didn't much care one way or the other, but it makes me cringe now.

Far more meaningful to me was the Girl Scout promise and law, which were similar to today's versions:

The Girl Scout Promise
On my honor, I will try:
To serve God and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

The Girl Scout Law
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.

The GS pledge still mentions god and country, but even as a kid, the idea of serving my country versus loyalty to a freaking flag (etc.) was more concrete, gratifying, and significant to me. It's even more so today.

We recited the Pledge in elementary and junior high schools (plus the Texas Pledge of Allegiance in jr. high)

By the time high school came around, we just had a moment of silence.

Please stand for the pledge.

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.


You may now be seated.

I read "In God we trust" on money as a snarky editorial about money.

As far as the pledge, it starts off irrational so what do you expect;
"I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the republic ..."

That sure sounds like,
"Okay yeah, I'm going to pledge my life to a couple square yards/meters of dead plant fibers and/or chemical filaments, and, oh, wait a minute, maybe I oughtta pledge allegiance to the republic before I forget"

^ you make some good points

They used to say the Pledge on Romper Room. I found it soothing, somehow.

I only said it in first grade. Afterwards, it wasn’t said in either my public or private schools.

The whole school filed out of the school building to salute the American flag on Flag Day in first grade.