I'll quote you, the esteemed BartCop, which cites an example of what made me become an atheist:

"You can always tell yourself, 'I don't mean it,'
 but why bother to pledge that which you don't feel in your heart?"

That's the very reason why I consider myself a more honest Xtian than my former Xtian peers:
At least I knew what it was to understand Jesus's teachings of tolerance and diversity.
But, as they contradicted themselves through their own actions while putting up an act
in front of my former Reverend I had to state, unequivocally, that I was more honest than them.

I've been a self-declared atheist since the age of seven, much to the chagrin of my parents and
the pastor to whom I renounced my parental-chosen Presbyterian faith simply because the bullies
certainly didn't practice what they learned, much less preached, in youth group and Sunday school.
At least I'm honest and declared outright that there is no god, no jesus, etc. and I'll gladly
(no, wait, GLEEFULLY) take responsibility for all of my actions.

And, since I declared my atheism in front of my Reverend, he did the most compassionate thing
someone of the cloth could do: Call my parents to take me home early and discipline me accordingly.
I was scolded and yelled at for my action and, yet, nobody even bothered to ask me why I did it.
They simply don't care because, after all, we need to be a part of the herd and we simply DO NOT
want the harsh facts of human behavior brought to light, much less have to deal with fellow human beings
exercising their "rugged individualism".

Just as you said, why bother when the others will only parrot without any sense of belief?

With that out of the way, doesn't anybody notice how EXCLUSIONARY that phrase is,
"under god"? As in, "...one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"?
If you are an atheist, a polytheist, an agnostic or somebody which worships a deity not even
remotely connected with jesus, then these people are not considered a part of this formerly
great nation of ours in regards to the Pledge of Allegiance. As in, how can be an indivisible part
of this "great" nation of ours if you have to pledge to Xtianity in the process? Even worse, it
was inserted within the fallout of the venomous anti-Communist activities of the McCarthyites
in the mid-50's (supposedly those damn "Commies" were a bunch of Radical Red non-Xtians).

Am I the only one who reads that part of the Pledge to be "...one nation, invisible..." without missing a beat?
But, aside for historical accuracy on my part, I know the Pledge is bullshit for another reason.

Notice how the focus is not upon the Constitution of the (formerly) United States of America but
pledges allegiance towards a symbolic piece of cloth. Personally, I consider symbols to be something
for the simple-minded. Besides, within our functionally illiterate infantile corporatized pleasure-seeking
disposable fast-food "culture" known as "American values," those pages of parchment which comprise
that Constitutional thingamajig are written in all those WORDS, so who has time to read, eh?

The irony? The "patriotically conservative" fools get all in a huff as the flag gets burnt while they don't mind
if the Constitution and its Bill of Rights is set ablaze by the unelected dictatorial powers that be.

Yet none dare call it incompetence. Why? This is supposed to be a country governed by overseers
of and by the people. And the other edge of the double-edged blade of "democracy" is wielded:
If the people are out of touch with their government then the government will be just as out of touch
with the people. Certainly, We The People aren't incompetent as a whole?   Right?
Nobody is speaking out to proclaim a type of verbal distancing from the Bush The Second Dictatorship,
otherwise we're seen as "dividers" and not "uniters", right?

That is how the tragedy of December 12, 2000 went with as little outrage as possible from the citizenry at large.
Which leads to what a fucked up citizenry our country and "culture" is composed of! Misanthropically
speaking, no wonder "they" despise us!

--dr.bomb