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God
In Pledge of Allegiance
"I
pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America, and to the Republic for
which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all."
Having
had to recite this phrase through seven
years of elementary school and two years
of middle school, it has been ingrained
in our heads so that after years without
thinking about the Pledge, we can still
recite it flawlessly. It doesn't seem that
this phrase will change any time soon.
Separation
of Church and State is an important issue
these days, but one that the Supreme Court
is choosing to avoid by dismissing a case
on the Pledge of Allegiance due to technicalities.
For now, we continue to include the words
"under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance
and in our public schools. The Supreme Court
was able to avoid any changes because Newdow,
the man who began the case, does not have
full legal custody of his 10-year-old daughter—he
only has her for 10 days each month. Newdow
served as his own lawyer, and is a self-proclaimed
atheist minister.
The
Supreme Court is avoiding confrontation
with the issue by dismissing it on a technicality.
Those in favor of leaving the words in the
Pledge, such as President Bush, are able
to do so by dismissing the case and do not
have to officially rule on the case.
The
words "under God" were not originally
part of the pledge, a fact many people seem
to forget. "Under God" was added
in 1954 by Congress under the Eisenhower
administration during a war against atheistic
communism. The phrase was supposed to separate
us from "the godless communists"
(The Soviet Union) during threat of nuclear
war.
In
June 2002, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled that reciting the Pledge is
unconstitutional because it endorses monotheistic
religion in public schools, a place where
neutrality towards religion should prevail,
though the Pledge does not establish any
one monotheistic religion over another.
Reciting
the Pledge is not required in public schools,
and school-sponsored prayer is not allowed
in classrooms or school ceremonies (including
sports games). When the case was taken to
the Supreme Court, the previous rulings
were frozen, and so the Pledge has not been
banned during this time.
The
case clearly involves more United States
citizens than just Newdow and his daughter,
as it affects the nation as a whole and
reflects the principles and the constitution
of this country. Some say Newdow is using
his daughter for his own agenda, but Newdow
stated that this is his lawsuit and he has
tried to keep his daughter's name out of
the case.
It
seems that he used the fact that he had
a daughter to have the case recognized,
but afterwards conceded it was his fight,
a fight that he has not won since the decision
of the 9th court is being overturned.
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