The inclusion of “under God” within the American Pledge of Allegiance is flagrantly unconstitutional. It openly acknowledge a divine being as supreme ruler, which presides over our nation.
Before I delve into this matter, let’s take a look at some historical facts.
1. The United States Constitution contains no mention of the word “God”, or any of his many nicknames.
2. Until 1954, the Pledge of Allegiance contained no mention of any deity or supernatural entity.
3. On June 14, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill adding the phrase “under God” to the Pledge. He did this after attending a spirited sermon by Rev. Dr. George McPherson Docherty at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Eisenhower, a recently baptized Presbyterian, fervently supported the Reverend’s religious reasons for including the phrase.
4. The above bill was signed in a time when Atheist Communism was the hated enemy of the United States, and accordingly Christian conservatism and patriotism were extremely popular.
5. Pres. Eisenhower announced the following phrase after signing the above bill: “From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty.”
To be honest, #5 wins the argument for me. For the sake of thoroughness, I will continue the discussion further.
Response: The phrase “under God” endorses no particular religion, it simply acknowledges a generic, all-encompassing “God”, and does not favor one religion over another.
This response is transparently weak, but I thought I would include it, just in case. The inclusion of any mention of any supernatural entity has already “picked sides”, in favor of the believers. Atheists don’t want it to say, “under no God”, they simply want it to contain no mention of any god at all. The Pledge of Allegiance should be utterly neutral when it comes to religion – it shouldn’t mention it at all. I am pledging myself to a nation, not a deity. I want that nation to be guided by reason and justice, not faith and dogma.
Response: The phrase “under God” does not endorse or establish religion, it only acknowledges the nation’s religious heritage, in particular the role of religion for the Founding Fathers. Thus, the Pledge is a secular act rather than an act of indoctrination in religion or expression of religious devotion.
The above argument was one presented by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who presided over the Newdow v. United States Congress, Elk Grove Unified School District (2004), in which the father of a 13 year old girl sued the school district for forcing the girl to recite the Pledge (including the “under God” phrase). It pains me to see such an argument presented by someone so high up in our judicial system. It genuinely does. It took me less than ten minutes to find the citation that refutes his perspective (numbers 1-5 above). This was not a secular, historical ‘nod’ to the religious perspectives of our Founding Fathers. This was a pious act, with every intention of promoting Christianity within the nation.
I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the Founding Fathers, as they are often gestured toward by religious individuals during these conversations as a justification for the inclusion of Christianity within our government.
The Founding Fathers were brilliant men. I have nothing but respect for them. I think that they had among their ranks some of the wisest and sharpest individuals the world has ever seen (Franklin, I’m looking at you). It is a fact that these men believed in the God of Abraham. However it is also a fact that they sought to create a nation free from any sort of repression, coercion, or indoctrination. If I had to sum up the intentions of the Founding Fathers in regard to our nation, I would use the following words: Freedom, liberty, and justice. I would not use words such as piety, Christianity, or faith. It wasn’t faith that made this nation. It was bloodshed and reason. It wasn’t faith that guided the Drafters of the Constitution, it was enlightenment and cultural evolution. It was not the God of Abraham that allowed us to defeat the British, to abolish slavery, or give women the right to vote. It was the lives of countless young men and women, and the dispelling of antiquated, archaic, and base beliefs that do not deserve our praise and admiration, but our contempt and dismissal.
You should look into some of the religious beliefs and writings of Thomas Jefferson. As a Deist he believed in a creator but that the creator could never interfere. He even published his own copy of the bible called the "Jefferson Bible" in which he cut out all of the miracles/supernatural content.
ReplyDeleteI had heard that some of the Founders were Deists, but I had never looked into it. This certainly warrants my investigation. Thanks Chris.
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