<p>It doesn’t bother me that “under God” is in the pledge of allegiance. What does bother me is that, in elementary school, we were FORCED to say it. If you chose not to say the pledge of allegiance, you were put in “time out” for recess. In the same token, if a Hindu kid would try to say “Under Vishnu”, or a Buddhist to say “Under Siddartha”, a Muslim to say “Under Allah” or a Jew to say “Under Yahweh”, it would be considered inappropriate and would subject them to ridicule.
A common criticism I’ve heard as to why Under God should remain is that many religions believe in God, not just Christianity. If this is the case, every child should have the option to “fill in the blank” as I described above which would be appropriate for their religion.</p>