Pastor who helped get "under God" in Pledge dies

[kentuck]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/29/AR2008112900912.html?hpid=moreheadlines

ALEXANDRIA, Pa. -- A church official says the clergyman credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance has died in Alexandria, Pa. The Rev. George M. Docherty was 97.

Nancy Taylor, historian for the Huntingdon Presbyterian Church, says Docherty died on Thanksgiving at his home in Alexandria, with his wife, Sue, by his side.

Docherty delivered a sermon saying the pledge should acknowledge God in 1952 at Washington's New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, just blocks from the White House.

On Feb. 7, 1954, he delivered it again after learning that President Dwight Eisenhower would be at the church.

Congress inserted the words a few months later.

[Seen the light]

1. There are some big factual inaccuracies in this article

The Pledge was around at the time of the Founding Fathers, after all, if it's good enough for them...it's good enough for me. And "under God" was in the Pledge back then too. Sarah Palin told me so. :P

[kentuck]

2. I was hoping someone would catch that blatant error...

Unforgivable, not to give credit to our Founding Fathers... :-)

[hfojvt]

5. I think Docherty did rely heavily on Lincoln

who used the phrase 'under God' in the Gettysburg address.


But that was some four score and seven years after the founding of the USA.



What the heck is a 'score'? Is that anything like a fortnight?

[kentuck]

6. A "score" is 20 years...

I think? :-)

[Ishoutandscream2]

7. She said that? God, she could have been a heartbeat away

:scared:

[Warpy]

3. Only the good die young.

[Shardik]

4. You beat me to it.

I was going to post the same comment.

Great minds... :)

[Bucky]

8. Struck down in his prime by a vengeful, angry God

Justice is finally done. Now I can say the pledge my way again without that creepy old dude looking over my shoulder. Lordy, he was starting to bother me. Has it only been 54 years since he stuck his fat nose into my business?

[hunter]

9. "You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God..."

Oooops.

[Realityhack]

10. The world is slightly better.... now can we dump that version of the pledge? n/t