Heh...

I wrote out a longish reply to this thread before coming here, about the history of the pledge, how the Congress added the bit about God (in direct violation of the First Amendment), how choosing not to express a religious belief in public is as much about your religious freedom as choosing to express something, and how nonconformity doesn't have to be outlawed in the courts in order to curtail freedom, especially when social pressure and children are in the mix...

But...

Everyone beat me to it.

I will just say this: Under God is not a vague, universal statement. Particularly the adjective "under": it denotes a specific kind of relationship between the worshipper and a single God.

As a Pantheistic, Polytheistic Agnostic, the most accurate invocation of the Divine I could make to support an oath would be: "with the support of the myriad divinities of Sea, Sky and Earth" (I am not "under" any of them, so simply adding an 's' to God wouldn't express my beliefs). But by the time I'd have finished that, everyone else would be back in their seats. ;-)

Besides, I'm another one of those folks who doesn't like "pledging allegiance" to my country. The word allegiance comes from the days of the fuedal lords, and connotes a vassal's subservience to a lord. I'll fight for my country (and there are more ways to fight than with a gun), and for my fellow citizens, but the loyalty I feel for this republic is not a servile one. Fighting for my country may occasionally mean fighting against it, if I believe our government is taking a wrong turn.