NBC omits "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Wow....

NBC made two versions of the Pledge of Allegiance for the intro the the US Open. And both versions skipped over the part of the Pledge that says "Under God, Indivisible". Maybe it was just their way of being artistic...

I think it's pretty lame for NBC to do that. And after reading what everyone else said it looks like the rest of the country feels the same way. They apologized for it, but why would they do it anyways? I know some kids in public schools have the option to pause during that part if they don't believe in God, but NBC is not a public school...

What do you think? Is the media overreacting or does NBC deserve the criticism they're getting?

Here's a link. There's a video in the link if you missed it.

They have the right to. People also have the right to bitch about it.
Gotta love the American Dream.

I think the whole pledge thing seems super weird, but I'm not American, so my thoughts on this doesn't matter.

Who cares? You can never please everybody.

I think there's quite a few different versions of God for all the different religions and an increasing number of non-believers in the USA.

NBC made two versions of the Pledge of Allegiance for the intro the the US Open. And both versions skipped over the part of the Pledge that says "Under God, Indivisible". Maybe it was just their way of being artistic...

I think it's pretty lame for NBC to do that. And after reading what everyone else said it looks like the rest of the country feels the same way. They apologized for it, but why would they do it anyways? I know some kids in public schools have the option to pause during that part if they don't believe in God, but NBC is not a public school...

What do you think? Is the media overreacting or does NBC deserve the criticism they're getting?

Here's a link. There's a video in the link if you missed it.

Some people are saying that since there are so many people in this country who are easily offended, they did it to not offend anyone.

So since I know there are a few Atheists who post here, does it offend you at all when people say "Under God" in the pledge?

I actually didn't hear about that, but I'm glad they did it. It's not that I don't love the U.S., but I've always felt like the pledge of allegiance was just forced on people and never genuine. Also: Not a big believer in "god", so I never liked being made to say all of that junk. I'm glad NBC are at least trying to be slightly progressive.

The broadcast networks are out of touch. They have been that way since the 70s. Every decade gets worse and worse. Pretty soon they'll sing a pledge of allegiance to Satan.
 
I agree with Twitchey. NBC is a private company. If they want to dabble in voodoo and smear mayonnaise all over their bodies, they're free to do that. I'll just flip over to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.

I'm not an american, so I'm not overly familiar with the Pledge of Allegiance but I feel it probably wasn't right to omit it. Their reasons are probably equality among people and straying away from religion in general, which is fine, but stuff like the pledge is official and agreed upon by everyone, if someone feels that it needs to be changed, that should be considered.  
 
As far as I know, even the motto of the US is "In God We Trust" so if someone feels that addressing God in an official manner emits prejudice (and I can't think of any other reason why they would omit that line) this topic should be discussed and changes should be made.

Sounds like NBC are moving into the 21st century with the rest of the atheists out there.

Not only is the pledge fucking stupid, but the "Under God" line is the height of stupidity. Good on NBC. Wish they hadn't bothered apologizing.

As an American, the pledge is dumb as fuck.

Its about damn time. 

That line wasn't in the original pledge. It was added in the 1950s. Should we also do the classic Bellamy Salute when we recite the pledge?

Some changes are for the best. NBC was keeping the pledge classy. Good for them.

The media is overreacting. NBC has the freedom to do whatever they want.   
 
I'm really starting to hate all of this patriotic bullshit before all of our sporting events. The pregame before the Superbowl made me want to gouge my eyes out.  It's a sporting event not the independence day. I also don't like how it's always a bunch of kids just mindlessly reciting the pledge of allegiance in front of a bunch military imagery. I don't need some chauvinistic highlight reel before ever major sporting event.  
 
/end rant    

Couldn't care less

A) Don't like Golf

B) Not from the States

C) Atheist

Seems like a good move by NBC to be honest. 
 
I'm not NA so my opinion is pretty damn irrelevant.

I find the whole idea of the pledge archaic and unnecessary, the "under God" bit especially so. Even if we are to publicly declare our allegiance to our country, our country isn't Christian. It was purposely made secular, and those lines weren't even added till the late 1940s.

Good timing. I was thinking about the "Under God" part when I saw a commercial for a citizenship documentary a few nights ago. NBC did it to avoid offending people who don't follow Christianity, that sounds reasonable to me.

Yo idk if you know this but God isn't real, and Religion is one of the worst thing ever to happen to the human race. Good riddance.

The Pledge of Allegiance is an ironic, extremist speech that condones religion in a manner that is un-befitting for a nation that states it allows 'Freedom of Speech." The 'Under God' part was added in the nineteen fifties in the mists of the Red Scare. By having young children at the age of three and four reciting this line, 'Under God,' they are condoning a religion, and advocating to these young children that a god exists. Something that is indeed, religious.

That bit wasn't there originally. I'm glad NBC opted to not include it. The media is fishing for viewers, there is no issue here (yellow journalism at its finest).

The words "under God" were added to the Pledge on 14 June 1954 when then U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law. At the time, Eisenhower stated that "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty." ~ Wikipedia

The pc police strike again, leave the pledge alone already.

@Ravenousrattler: if they had left it alone "under god" would have never been there in the first place.

@Wes said:

That bit wasn't there originally, I'm glad they opted to not include it. The media is fishing for viewers, there is no issue here (yellow journalism at its finest).

The words "under God" were added to the Pledge on 14 June 1954 when then U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law. At the time, Eisenhower stated that "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty." ~ Wikipedia

It's still officially part of the pledge though. I guess some people could say NBC went old-school, but today that's a pretty controversial part for them to leave out.

Some people are saying that since there are so many people in this country who are easily offended, they did it to not offend anyone.

So since I know there are a few Atheists who post here, does it offend you at all when people say "Under God" in the pledge?

They added it in the 50s? That makes it really stupid to me. I thought it was way older kept out of tradition.

Weird. If they had left it in, it wouldn't be a story at all. What's the point of leaving it out? I doubt its for some kind of equality initiative. I'm not religious but that part doesn't bother me at all. I'm surprised to see it bothering so many others here.

After being forced to say it over and over in school, I couldn't care less. However, if they ever edit the national anthem, they can go get fucked.

Wait this is seriously for a golf tournament? I would have expected a presidential speech after this kind of opening.

So since I know there are a few Atheists who post here, does it offend you at all when people say "Under God" in the pledge?

The left it out entirely because "one nation, under The Flying Spaghetti Monster" just doesn't flow with the original pledge. 
 
In all seriousness, the omission is appropriate.  If tradition was the law of the land, we'd still have slaves.  

It's about time they update it. A step forward for USA.

@Commando said:

@Wes said:

That bit wasn't there originally, I'm glad they opted to not include it. The media is fishing for viewers, there is no issue here (yellow journalism at its finest).

The words "under God" were added to the Pledge on 14 June 1954 when then U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law. At the time, Eisenhower stated that "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty." ~ Wikipedia

It's still officially part of the pledge though. I guess some people could say NBC went old-school, but today that's a pretty controversial part for them to leave out.

It's a less controversial part to leave out now than ever. The USA and Italy are really the last two western cultures with large majority theist populations, but even the USA is less religious than ever.

Slow progress, but the removal of religion from all aspects of life is humanity coming out of its infancy.

The whole concept of civilians pledging allegiance to a flag just makes me frown.

@tplarkin7 said:

The broadcast networks are out of touch. They have been that way since the 70s. Every decade gets worse and worse. Pretty soon they'll sing a pledge of allegiance to Satan. I agree with Twitchey. NBC is a private company. If they want to dabble in voodoo and smear mayonnaise all over their bodies, they're free to do that. I'll just flip over to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh.

I...what?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the original version of the pledge did not feature the words "under God."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the original version of the pledge did not feature the words "under God."

Seems reasonable.

You thank god when you won, you pray to god to win, but he is in no way involved when you lose eh?

Why is this news...Or anything?

@Commando said:

NBC made two versions of the Pledge of Allegiance for the intro the the US Open. And both versions skipped over the part of the Pledge that says "Under God, Indivisible". Maybe it was just their way of being artistic...

I think it's pretty lame for NBC to do that. And after reading what everyone else said it looks like the rest of the country feels the same way. They apologized for it, but why would they do it anyways? I know some kids in public schools have the option to pause during that part if they don't believe in God, but NBC is not a public school...

What do you think? Is the media overreacting or does NBC deserve the criticism they're getting?

Here's a link. There's a video in the link if you missed it.

Or you know, their way of not implying a belief system that doesn't apply to the entire country.

Good idea on NBC's part if you ask me. Let everyone decide for themselves if they want to say "under god".

Every pledge in any country should omit god. Just sayin'

@Commando said:

Some people are saying that since there are so many people in this country who are easily offended, they did it to not offend anyone.

So since I know there are a few Atheists who post here, does it offend you at all when people say "Under God" in the pledge?

I think to omit "under God" is just fine. Why should those that don't believe in God, or a god at all, be required to pledge their allegiance under a deity that they don't believe exists?

As an atheist more so an anti-theist I'm all for removing it. Yes, I do get offended when people say "god bless you" when I sneeze, or that the pledge has the words "under god" in it, as well as the line "In god we trust." No, I do not like to make a big stink about it, I for the most part like to keep my disapproval and reactions to such matters to myself because it's pointless to yell at people and get so mad at trivial things. 
 
And to everyone calling the U.S. a secular nation, we are clearly not. Believe me I want us to be. So many politicians and people who run things in our country are brainwashed by religion. Case and point the reason gay/non heterosexual marriage is still even remotely contested is beyond me. Separation of church and state was to keep the state out of the church.

I'm an English atheist and "under God" doesn't offend me, nor do I think it offends any other atheists, I think the idea that people are getting offended by that phrase is completely missing the point of why people might remove it from the pledge. I'm no American but if there's one thing I do know it's that the country prides itself on being the land of the free and NBC should be entirely free to pay respects to their country without having to conform to any religion. Frankly I'm glad to see this organisation not being afraid to break the social norm to exercise their beliefs and the fact that them expressing their freedom of speech in that way has caused such a backlash is very worrying.

@tourgen said:

That line wasn't in the original pledge. It was added in the 1950s. Should we also do the classic Bellamy Salute when we recite the pledge?

Some changes are for the best. NBC was keeping the pledge classy. Good for them.

@Slaker117 said:

I find the whole idea of the pledge archaic and unnecessary, the "under God" bit especially so. Even if we are to publicly declare our allegiance to our country, our country isn't Christian. It was purposely made secular, and those lines weren't even added till the late 1940s.

@Wes said:

That bit wasn't there originally. I'm glad NBC opted to not include it. The media is fishing for viewers, there is no issue here (yellow journalism at its finest).

The words "under God" were added to the Pledge on 14 June 1954 when then U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law. At the time, Eisenhower stated that "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty." ~ Wikipedia

@spartanlolz92 said:

no one ever seems to bring this issue up with money -__- and you dont have to say the pledge. btw the undergod part wasnt put in the pledge till the 1950s which is 40 years after the pledge was created. it was added to show we respect relgion unlike the communists at the time.

@MooseyMcMan said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the original version of the pledge did not feature the words "under God."

HAY GUISE, DID YOU KNOW THAT THE "UNDER GOD" PART WASN'T ADDED UNTIL THE 1940S OR PERHAPS 1950S.

Christ almighty.