Half a century ago, when I possessed the charming innocence of a 12-year-old, I took offense at the wording of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Why, I wondered, was I expected to pledge my allegiance to a flag? Proclaiming loyalty to my country , I could understand. But to a piece of fabric?

That wasn't all. Having concluded with unshakable, preadolescent self-confidence that human existence is nothing more than a cosmic accident, I found the phrase "under God" offensive as well.

And so, while my classmates were dutifully reciting the full text of the Pledge, I was quietly editing my own recitation: "I pledge allegiance ... to the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation ... indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

By my final year in high school, however, I had acquired enough sophistication to appreciate the importance of symbolism. I no longer resented being asked to swear loyalty to a flag as the embodiment of the noble ideals it represented. I was also less certain about the existence — or nonexistence — of a deity. However, by that time students weren't reciting the Pledge anymore.

And that's a shame. Because it provides young people with an opportunity to ponder this week's entry into the Ethical Lexicon:

Allegiance (al*le*giance/ uh-lee-juhns) noun

Devotion or loyalty to a person, group, cause, or ideal.

For decades now, we have heard from those who object to the phrase "under God" as unconstitutional. Perhaps they should familiarize themselves not only with the letter but also with the spirit of the Constitution, which can readily be discerned from the writings of the Framers. It was Alexander Hamilton who said:

"The sacred rights of mankind ... are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power."

Neither Washington, Jefferson, Madison nor most of the Founding Fathers felt any reluctance to include references to the Almighty in their political discourse, and even less inclination to expurgate it from the public arena. If the Framers weren't afraid to mention God in the Declaration of Independence, why do so many fear the utterance of His name in our courthouses or schools?

Does their fear stem from the unknown destiny that may meet us when we depart this mortal coil? Or are they desperate to claim moral and ethical autonomy in their actions, their speech and their values?

For the militant atheist, there is no greater dread than the haunting suspicion that he might be wrong, that we might have to account for the way we've lived our lives upon arrival in the hereafter. Every reference to God challenges faith in the randomness of our existence while raising the possibility that we are not the arbiters of absolute moral truth.

The great Joseph B. Soloveitchik, one-time chief rabbi of Boston and teacher of countless theological scholars, summed it up like this:

"All extremism, fanaticism and obscurantism come from a lack of security. A person who is secure cannot be an extremist."

Indeed, extremism in the form of radical religion and radical nihilism are one and the same. The 19th-century anarchist employed techniques not unlike the suicide bomber of today to advance his own variety of jihad. Modern anarchists, some wearing judicial robes, manipulate the law to advance their cause, supremely confident that they understand the Constitution better than its authors.

It has been observed that the word "ego" is an acronym for "Elbow God Out." A daily reminder that we should receive our national freedoms with humility is among the surest means of preserving those freedoms for our children and their children after them. Independence Day calls on us to rearticulate allegiance not only to our country but to the values on which it was founded, to subjugate ourselves to those noble ideals that emanate from a source higher than ourselves.

See more by Yonason Goldson and features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists; visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Jim Strasma at Unsplash