When the Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 it read:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This is a fact that is easy to verify and a part of relatively well-known public record. Why then is this fact not stated more often in the debate surrounding the inclusion of "under God" in the Pledge? It's easy to understand that many Americans feel the way they do about the Pledge when so few know that it was originally written without the words "under God" in it.

The fact is that the majority of references to God in our government came during the 1950s.  In the 1950s Congress changed the national motto from "E Pluribus Unum" to "In God We Trust" (which is how "In God We Trust" became required to be printed of federal money), "So help me God" was added to federal oaths (despite the fact that the Christian Bible clearly states not to swear by God or any other person, place, or thing when taking an oath. Matthew 5:33-37, James 5:12), and "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Pledge of Allegiance is currently 112 years old. Throughout over half of its existence it has been without the phrase "under God" in it. Furthermore, our country existed for over 100 years prior to that with no pledge at all!