This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I would like to respectfully respond to Linda Sagendorf's Forum letter of Sept. 20, "Latino newspaper."
Sagendorf could broaden her understanding of the words "one nation under God" if she would google the phrase and learn that the Pledge of Allegiance was not written by our forefathers, but by a socialist minister, Francis Bellamy, who had hoped it would be used by any country.
In 1954, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add "under God."
Sagendorf's opinion that this is one nation of English-only speakers is misguided. There is a growing population of Spanish speakers who up until now have been an invisible people. Our Spanish speakers are growing in number. Spanish is the second most-spoken language in the Western Hemisphere.
Sagendorf and others of this opinion would do well to learn Spanish. It would broaden their horizons.
All over the world people speak two languages, with the exception of Americans, who ethnocentrically demand that Americans speak English only.
Mary C. Barnes
Salt Lake City