Prior to February 1954, no endeavour to get the Pledge officially amended succeeded. The final successful push came from George MacPherson Docherty. Some American presidents honored Lincoln’s birthday by attending services at the church Lincoln attended, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church by sitting in Lincoln’s pew on the Sunday nearest February 12. On February 7, 1954, with President Eisenhower sitting in Lincoln’s pew, the church’s pastor, George MacPherson Docherty, delivered a sermon based on the Gettysburg Address titled “A New Birth of Freedom.” He argued that the nation’s might lay not in arms but its spirit and higher purpose. He noted that the Pledge’s sentiments could be those of any nation, that “there was something missing in the pledge, and that which was missing was the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life.” He cited Lincoln’s words “under God” as defining words that set the United States apart from other nations.

President Eisenhower had been baptized a Presbyterian very recently, just a year before. He responded enthusiastically to Docherty in a conversation following the service. Eisenhower acted on his suggestion the next day and on February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), introduced a bill to that effect. Congress passed the necessary legislation and Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.^[13] Eisenhower stated “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource, in peace or in war.”^[14]

The phrase “under God” was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance June 14, 1954, by a Joint Resolution of Congress amending §7 of the Flag Code enacted in 1942.^[13]

Rep. Randy Forbes, (R-VA), said the Air Force removed the logo several weeks ago from the Rapid Capabilities Office. The patch included a line written in Latin that read, “Doing God’s Work with Other People’s Money.”

But after the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers complained, Forbes said the line was rewritten in Latin to read, “Doing Miracles with Other People’s Money.” Read story»

We’ve been talking about this emerging conflict between the Catholic Church and the Obama Administration for two weeks, and last night and this morning it exploded all over the mainstream media.

The basics are this: The department of Health and Human services issued a regulation that all non-Church religious intitutions, like hospitals and schools, had to provide employee health insurance that includes contraception, sterlization, and drugs that the Church maintains are abortifacients. Read story»

A recent study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicated that 40 percent of Americans use complementary or alternative forms of health care, and they spend $34 billion annually for these services and products.

Another current study published by the American Psychological Association reported that among the alternate forms of health care, prayer was used by 49 percent of Americans to address health concerns, and this same study indicated that reliance on prayer in health care was actually increasing. Read story»

When the world’s largest privately-owned Bible collection goes on display in Vatican City later this year, a Branson company will have a big part of the production.

Rick Brockett, owner of Fidelity Logic in Branson, said the company did all the audio, video and lighting for the display, which is expected to open in early March.  Read story»

On Sundays, they knelt in their dirty prison cell and prayed. At the end of every service, they pledged allegiance to the country no enemy could make them betray.

Their North Vietnamese captors tried everything to silence the prisoners of war and thwart their weekly worship. They told them to stop. They threatened them with tear gas and bayonets. Finally, they dragged three men out to be tortured. As rifle butts struck already-bruised flesh, the men heard a song rising on the wind: “The Star Spangled Banner,” sung so loudly by their cell mates that it could be heard from blocks away. Read story»

• Obama’s prayer breakfast and the still small voice of the Religious Left – The Washington Post
• Obama Mis-Uses Scripture to Proselytize Tax Increases at National Prayer Breakfast – Townhall.com
• Obama: Jesus would back my tax-the-rich policy – CNNMoney
• Two prayer breakfasts: two visions of America – The Wild Hunt, Patheos.com

A Christian group has been banned from claiming praying for people can heal them after a woman complained to the Advertising Standards Authority.

The ASA upheld Hayley Stevens’ complaint, but Bath’s Healing in the Streets team have said the decision was an attempt to ban ‘the basic Christian belief that God can heal illness’. Read story»