“Chinese Catholics, believed to number between 8 million and 12 million, are divided between those who are members of the Church backed by the Communist Party and those loyal to the pope.”
On June 14, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower supported and signed into law the Congressional Act, Joint Resolution 243, which added the phrase “one Nation under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.
His reason:
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 and war.
*This was during the height of the Second Red Scare and McCarthyism. Also, it came on the heels of the trail and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage in 1953.
*The Pledge of Allegiance was first written in 1892 by a Baptist minister from Boston, Francis Bellamy.
“The Chinese government appears to have few options left to halt the growth of religion. ‘This is a trend that is hard to stop,” Yang said. “In fact, it is almost impossible to stop’.”
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