I got this from a relative:
Here are some readings related to this topic:
Pledge of Allegience Criticisim
Separation of Church and State
Notabley:
(1) Written by a Christian Socialist, Francis Bellamy.
(2) Under god: added via persuasive efforts of George MacPherson Docherty a Knight of Columbus.
(3) The oath of allegience is most often to the basis of government. In the case of the U. S., government employees must take an oath to the Constitution of the United States.
(4) Quote from Washington: “We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing liberty.”