Organization supports bid to keep “under God” in Pledge of Allegiance
Knights of Columbus formally seeking to keep “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
bq.. NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The Knights of Columbus, as an organization, has a personal as well as a professional stake in the U.S. Supreme Court consideration of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Knights of Columbus began inserting the words “under God” when they recited the Pledge of Allegiance in 1951, and the Knights in several states adopted resolutions recommending that the pledge be formally amended.
They began petitioning President Eisenhower and leaders in Congress to make the change. In June 1954, Eisenhower signed the bill adding the two words, which are at issue in a U.S. Supreme Court case to be heard Wednesday.
The 1.7 million-member Roman Catholic men’s organization, based in New Haven, has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, defending the insertion of the two words into the pledge.
The group’s brief says that with the exception of George Washington’s second inaugural address in 1789, “every single presidential inaugural address includes references to God, whether as a source of rights, of blessing to the country, or of wisdom and guidance.”
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