The Pledge of Allegiance is Unconstitutional?!? I, like millions of other Americans, was astounded to learn yesterday afternoon that the words �one nation under God� within the text of the Pledge of Allegiance was Unconstitutional. Let�s look a little more into this decision.
This decision came from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, by far the most liberal of the 11 circuit courts. They said that the words �one nation under God� constituted an establishment of religion under the establishment clause of the first amendment to the United States Constitution. This is an obvious stretch on the face of it. It is not like the pledge forces anyone to be a Christian by its recitation. Heck, it doesn�t even say �one nation under the Christian God�, just �one nation under God.� Last I checked, Jews worship God, Muslims worship God, heck, even within the Hindu pantheon, they claim that all the 300 million expressions of gods equate to the supreme power of a single god.
How does this affect people in practice? I don�t know of any school that forces children to recite the pledge of allegiance on a daily basis. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled that while schools may indeed have recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, it may not require children to participate if for whatever reason they wish not to. I taught in a school in North Metro Atlanta last year. At that school, every morning we have a moment of silence (required by Georgia law) as well as a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Every day, students choose not to participate, as is their right.
Were students required to participate, I might see the point. There is no place in forcing students to recite any religious reference that might not be consistent with their beliefs. However, to rule the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional and not allow it to be recited on a daily basis in school not only goes beyond the scope of the Constitution, but it is simply un-American.