https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1570
God and the Pledge of Allegiance
Here we go again. A federal judge in Sacramento, California has ruled
that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is
unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that
the reference to “one nation under God” violates the constitutional
right of students to be “free from a coercive requirement to affirm God”
(“Federal Judge Rules...,” 2005). Fortunately, there are those who
recognize the audacity and absurdity of such an action—which entails the
usurpation of the Constitution. The Pledge Protection Act, introduced
by Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri, would restrict the jurisdiction of
the federal courts from ruling on the constitutionality of the Pledge
(Akin, 2003).
During the last 40 years or so, America has moved farther and farther
away from God and its original religious moorings. A small but growing
number of liberal politicians, educators, entertainers, and activist
judges have been working feverishly to expel Christianity from public
life and to transform American civilization into a religionless (or
religiously neutral) country. Their central strategy has been their
claim that the Founding Fathers (and the
Constitution they
wrote) rejected references to the God of the Bible or the Christian
religion in public life—whether in the government, public schools, or
the community. They claim that references to the Christian religion in
schools violate the principle of “separation of church and state,” and
specifically, the “establishment clause” of the First Amendment.
It was Adolf Hitler who is purported to have said: “By means of shrewd
lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that
heaven is hell—and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily
it will be believed.” In actuality, the
Constitution makes no
reference to any notion of an alleged separation of church and state—a
phrase which the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist labeled “a
misleading metaphor,” insisting that it ought to be “frankly and
explicitly abandoned” (
Wallace v. Jaffree). The Founding
Fathers did not believe that the Christian religion should be banned
from public life—since they, themselves, frequently referred to God in
their
official public actions, statements, and written documents. The
Declaration of Independence,
for example, refers to the “Creator,” “Nature’s God,” “Divine
Providence,” and “the Supreme Judge of the world”—four unmistakable
references to the God of the Bible.
While the Pledge was written in the late 1800s, the words “under God”
were added in 1954 by Congress at the behest of President Dwight
Eisenhower. At the time, he stated: “In this way we are reaffirming the
transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in
this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which
forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war”
(“Pledge of Allegiance...,” 2002). Yet a liberal, activist federal judge
in 2005 would have us to believe that the Congress of the United
States—the legislative body who made a law in harmony with the consent
of the governed, those millions of Americans whom they represented at
the time—as well as the millions of American teachers and students who
have repeated those words for over 50 years now, have all been in direct
violation of the
Constitution and the will of the Founders?
Ridiculous! Such foolishness flies in the face of voluminous evidence to
the contrary (see, for example, Barton, 2000).
But what about all the atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Native Americans,
et al. who do not share the Christian values and belief system that
dominated the nation for the first 180+ years? Is not the use of the
Pledge “insensitive” and “offensive” to them and their children? To put
this question into perspective, consider another question: what about
all the atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Native Americans, et al. who
attended public schools from 1954 to the present—before “under God” was
challenged? History records that America has
always had
individuals within her borders who have not shared the Christian
worldview of the Founders (though they have always been in a minority).
What about them? Were they treated “insensitively” in violation of the
Constitution?
Answer: the Founders certainly did not think so—nor did their judicial
and political successors for nearly two centuries. While they did not
advocate the persecution of atheists or those who embrace false
religious ideologies,
neither did they indicate that provision
or adjustments were to be made in public life to accommodate such
erroneous belief systems! In fact, they insisted that it was
only because the American Republic was grounded on the free exercise of
Christian principles that enabled non-Christian citizens
not to be persecuted (see State Supreme Court cases
City Council of Charleston v. Benjamin, 1846 and
Lindenmuller v. The People, 1860).
Imagine what would happen to an atheist if he went to a Muslim nation
and insisted that they adjust their social policies in order to avoid
offending his unbelief!
Did the Founders intend to create a nation that adjusts itself to
accommodate every ideology, religion, and hair-brained philosophy that
comes to our shores?
They did not. To do so now is to
undermine the foundations of the Republic. Besides, it is impossible to
please everybody. The world religions conflict with and contradict each
another. The only sane course to follow, the only one that will
perpetuate the Republic, is the one articulated by the psalmist some
three millennia ago: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”
(Psalm 33:12). “For the nation and kingdom which will not serve [God]
shall perish” (Isaiah 60:12).
REFERENCES
Akin Todd (2003), “We Must Keep ‘Under God’ in the Pledge,” [On-line], URL: http://www.house.gov/akin/updates/20030825ed.html.
Barton, David (2000),
Original Intent (Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press), third edition.
City Council of Charleston v. Benjamin (1848), 2 Strob. L. 508 (S. C. 1848).
“Federal Judge Rules Reciting Pledge in Schools Unconstitutional” (2005),
Fox News, September 15, [On-line], URL: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169379,00.html.
Lindenmuller v. The People (1861), 33 Barb (N.Y.) 548.
“Pledge of Allegiance Declared Unconstitutional” (2002), June 26, [On-line], URL: http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa062602a.htm.
Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 92 (1984).
