Under God

I was listening to KGO radio today and heard that once again the issue of whether or not the phrase "under God" as in "one nation, under God" belongs in our pledge of allegiance. It was really a two part question. Part 1 was, "does it belong in the pledge?" Part 2 was, "if it does not belong there, is it worth the effort to try to remove it?"
I think that it is clear that the answer to the first part is that it does not belong there. The "God" being referred to is clearly a Christian god and if it is a Christian god, then having it in a pledge that is recited in public schools seems to be a clear violation of the separation of church and state. Even if it turns out that "God" does not refer to a specific religion (which is really a stretch since it is so clearly intended to mean Christianity), there is no reason for it to be included in the pledge. It was only put there in 1954 as a response to the "Godless" communist party of the USSR. The pledge was not enhanced by the addition of the phrase.
Now the question of whether or not it is important enough to fight to have it removed. My first feeling on the subject is that it really doesn’t make much difference. Other then when I had to relearn the pledge to include this phrase, it hasn’t really made much difference to me. However, that is probably because at some level I have always been a Christian so didn’t even really notice that it was there. However, as I have become clearer on the subject over the past years, it has become clear that it was put there for religious reasons in direct conflict with the constitution. It makes no difference that the word God is used in other government activities such as swearing in ceremonies or on our money. I think those are also in conflict with the constitution, but that is another issue altogether.
As I listen to the conservative, religious folks about this issue it is very clear that to them it is a powerfully important issue. Obviously it is not just a couple of words, it has deep meaning to them, which is exactly the reason why it is worthwhile fighting it. Since they respond with such anger and panic, it is clear that they feel that it is indeed a religious message. I wonder what this could mean. It appears that it means that those folks take it to mean that the country is special because their God is in support of the country – meaning that we have a religious superiority to other countries that do not have this special relationship with God (the Christian god that is).
I have become convinced that many (or possible most) of the problems with the country are directly the result of Christian religion weaseling its way into our politics. The source of many of the inhumane and "unloving" actions of the USA seem to be created by the feeling that the Christian point of view must be upheld by governmental actions and laws.
My personal feelings are that the government should not support any religion in any way, including providing tax exemptions to religious organizations. They should stand on their own and not be supported by taxes. As a minimum, tax exemptions should not be given to any organizations that are involved in any way with politics. Any political activity should result in the losing their tax-exempt status. I think it would be better to just not give these exemptions.