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Well sir, that certainly explains things, although I would humbly suggest that next time you might consider another way to make your point--as my initial post demonstrates, using such a technique led to a misunderstanding by myself and others, and was kind of a rough way to start things out.

If you don’t mind a friendly critique, I think such an approach might have worked better in a more controlled setting, like a lecture hall, where your subsequent explanation would have been heard clearly and understood in context. As it was, given the noisy and somewhat chaotic atmosphere of a rally on the Mall, I think it was lost on many of us. The desired shock value was achieved, but the reason for it really didn’t come across. Also, since the theme of the rally was to support our troops and the liberation of Iraqi, I don’t think we were mentally prepared for a surprise about the Pledge of Allegiance. Although it’s an important issue, it was somewhat unrelated to the events taking place.

If you use decide to use that approach again, you might consider warning the audience that it’s coming or assist them somehow in quickly recovering from the shock you’ve delivered. For example, after omitting the words, while everyone is stunned, you could say something like, “Did that sound right? No! So, let’s do it again, and this time, do it right!” Then lead everyone through the pledge again, forcefully emphasizing the words “Under God.”

In any event, that’s my two cents on the subject. I’m no great orator, so my free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it. ;-)

I hope there are no hard feelings over my inital post on the subject--I really didn't know much about your group other than you had sponsored the rally, and should have given you the benefit of the doubt before jumping down your throat.

I am very relieved to hear that it wasn’t a case of political correctness gone awry, and now that you’ve explained it, I can certainly appreciate the point you were trying to make.