0:01 [music]
0:02 >> Who are you? And where are you going? What do you want?
0:18 >> Hello and welcome to this special edition of the way to wow shows in honor of the adoption of the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm your host Kevin Bemel and I am here every Monday at 10:00 a.m. Normally for my show Trusts and Estates weekly, but but this this year on June 22nd, which is the day June in 1942 that the Pledge of Allegiance was formally adopted. So we're doing a special edition instead. And I I do these from time to time
0:53 just to to mark these important days in in our history because I think that they are as as if not more important than the various financial topics about which we talk. So as I mentioned just a moment ago, 78 years ago today or wait, 1942 that would be
1:24 >> [laughter]
1:24 >> That's it's it's it's longer than 78 years ago. 42 let's see it would be 58 78 88 years ago today the Pledge Pledge of Allegiance was was adopted. No, I did my math wrong.
1:44 >> [laughter]
1:45 >> Let's see. 26 and and 52 yeah, 42 eight 58 and 26 84 years ago. Oh, there we go. 84 [snorts] years ago today, the Pledge of Allegiance was was adopted. Um, and I know growing up as a child in in in elementary school and uh gosh, I don't remember if it this was the case in junior high, but in elementary school we said the Pledge of Allegiance to start out each school day.
2:22 As well, we did it at Boy Scout events and civic events and it was it was a part of everyday discourse. That is no longer I think the the situation, but I think it would be a great practice to bring back the idea that um, we are recognizing the value of our country no matter what our our other differences are.
2:48 >> [snorts]
2:48 >> So, I'm going to talk a little bit about the origin of the Pledge of Allegiance to understand its history better. So, in 1892, um, it was written by Francis Bellamy, who was a Baptist minister
3:08 >> [snorts]
3:08 >> and actually a Christian socialist. So, he he composed the Pledge of Allegiance to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival, Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. So, it was published in a book called the Youth's Companion. These There were a number of these works around that were designed to help young people grow up to be better people, good citizens, etc. And [snorts]
3:43 in this case the Youth's Companion was a popular child's magazine, children's magazine, and it was published um September 8th, 1892 um as part of the public school celebration of Columbus Day. So, the original text was different than what we say now. The original text uh read, "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all." So, you can see it it it does bear resemblance to how we say the Pledge of
4:20 Allegiance today, but it's it's significantly shorter. Um October 12th, 1892 was the first recitation of the pledge in public schools. Um and um it was organized in conjunction with the National Education Association, uh what we know of today as as the teachers' union. And And so, you can see that there was very broad support uh for the practice of saying the Pledge of Allegiance at its inception. So, [snorts] over time, the Pledge of
4:56 Allegiance was modified. So, in 1923, um about what uh 31 years after it was originally written by Bellamy, uh the first major change occurred and the phrase "my flag" was changed to "the flag of the United States", which I think uh um it it it was it was meant to, I think, as a unifying uh statement. It wasn't my flag and your flag, it was the flag of the United States, meaning the
5:32 the official flag at that time. In 1924, a further clarification was added to that statement. So, it was it became uh it went from the flag of the United States to the flag of the United States of America.
5:49 >> [snorts]
5:49 >> And then in June 22nd, 1942, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. Um the United States had entered World War II uh just about 7 months before. And uh the the US Congress uh formally adopted the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the US Flag Code. So, in 1942, um as well, the the salute changed. So, um
6:24 prior to that time, the salute looked um kind of similar to what at that point was known as the Nazi salute with that with the arm extended. Um and so, in order to distinguish from the fascist nature of of that salute, um it was replaced by putting the right hand one's right hand over one's heart. Um and uh I I I I I will say I think this is a much better gesture. Um not just because of um the connection to the extended arm
7:01 with with Nazi fascism, but also because the idea of putting one's hand over one's heart as as a gesture of sincerity, I think is is is much better.
7:12 >> [snorts]
7:13 >> In 1954, um when um Dwight Eisenhower was president of the United States, the words under God were added um it to the pledge in response to the Cold War and the anti-communist sentiment that was that had built up in the Congress. Um the Congress was influenced by lobbying from religious groups, as you might imagine, and most notably the Knights of Columbus. And so um the the the this
7:48 this uh these two words under God were added to the US uh to the pledge of the the the to the pledge of allegiance to distinguish the United States from the atheist uh nature of um of the Soviet Union. Uh so, there have been over the years um legal and cultural uh controversies. So, in 1963, um the Supreme Court upheld the voluntary uh recitation of the pledge in the case of School District of Abington Township versus
8:25 Schempp. It was it was a um a case that was related to school prayer, and it reinforced that students cannot be forced to recite the pledge of allegiance. In 1988, uh President Ronald Reagan endorsed an amendment um to protect the words under God in the pledge. Um there was disagreement as to whether the words under God uh constituted an establishment of religion in um
9:03 in um uh violation of the uh First Amendment to the US Constitution. And and and and there is an ongoing debate about that, whether um in fact God is religion or God transcends religion, and and and that sort of theological question is is the one undergirding that debate. In 2002, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals um ruled against under God in the case of Newdow versus United States Congress
9:39 um and the court found the phrase unconstitutional in public schools um and in a decision that um uh kind of further inflamed controversy over this topic. In 2004, uh the United States Supreme Court on procedural grounds uh reversed the Ninth Circuit's uh decision under uh on on on the issue of under God being included in the pred uh in in the pledge. Um this was not a decision on the merits, but
10:15 one that um dismissed the Newdow case as as um lacking standing, meaning they didn't have any um they didn't have any position in the case and therefore um there was nothing to to be decided. Um [snorts] the debate continues to this day. Um there are um you will hear from time to time um schools, you know, stopping doing the pledge. You will hear other schools taking up doing the pledge. Um there was
10:50 a recent one, when I say recent in the last year or two, I believe, in Arizona where I believe it was a high school student uh lobbied her school board or the school board over that over you know, that was over her high school uh to have um students say the Pledge of Allegiance. Um she thought that it was something that that ought to happen. I believe she was successful if if memory serves. Uh and this is by no means uh a settled issue.
11:25 Uh however, I I I will say that um
11:29 >> [snorts]
11:30 >> a couple of months ago, I went to a meeting of a professional organization that deals with trust and estate administration, etc. And kind of surprisingly, although the meeting was held in Pasadena, we started the meeting out by pledging allegiance to the flag, which I thought was a very nice way to begin the meeting. All of us there were beneficiaries of the freedom and economic system that we have here in the United States, and acknowledging that I think is is is very appropriate
12:06 for was very appropriate for that meeting. So, I believe the pledge of allegiance is said at meetings of organizations like the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. I belong to both organizations, although I have not been to meetings of those organizations in in some time. So, current practices and cultural significance. So, it's used in schools and government functions. The pledge is still said in many public schools and at civic events, although
12:41 some states allow students to opt out. The recitation is voluntary based on multiple court court rulings. Neither students nor adults can be legally compelled to say the pledge. So, it is a symbol of patriotism for those who of course see it that way, and for others it a symbol of controversy. I think it is unfortunate that that we we cannot agree to recognize
13:16 the the greatness, albeit flawed greatness, of of our country. And it has been translated into other languages so that non-English speaking students can say the pledge at least until they learn English. And it is part of the citizenship ceremony. So new US citizens frequently recite the pledge as part of the naturalization ceremony. And and and
13:51 you know one one would certainly expect that to be the case. So on this anniversary of the adoption of the Pledge of Allegiance, I hope you're flying your flag. I have mine out in front of my house this morning. Yesterday it was out for national Korean Veterans Day. And the Pledge of Allegiance simply said is I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
14:28 justice for all. And and so with having said the pledge, I conclude I hope you you enjoyed and and got something out of this short present presentation and I hope you will consider flying the flag on national holidays and and perhaps adopting the saying the Pledge of Allegiance as a way of creating solidarity with all of our fellow Americans. So thank you so much
15:03 for joining me today. I wish you a wonderful rest of the day and week and signing off as I always do, a woman who was a great lover of this country, my dear Marie, you are my bell. Courage at all times, my friends.