SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a Virginia case that the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional. On Sept. 14, a San Francisco District Court followed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the lawsuit filed by plaintiff and atheist Michael Newdow. These courts declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.
South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster released a statement immediately after hearing the decision. He states, “Our teachers and schoolchildren in South Carolina may, and should, continue to legally recite the pledge of allegiance as state law requires.” Statute 59-1-455 requires all public school students K-12 to say the pledge. It also allows for students to decline to participate without penalty.
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel has observed, “…the phrase ‘under God’ is a permissible acknowledgement rather than an establishment of religion.” According to Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, “If the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, then so is the recitation or study of the Declaration of Independence and every other historical document or inscription that recognizes the fact that this country was founded upon religious principles.” If this theory ever inspired anyone to file suit, we would see the day when the U.S. Constitution would be declared unconstitutional.
Although the Pledge was amended three times after its first publication in 1892 (1923, 1924, 1954), the version millions of people recite every day has remained unchanged over the past half century. President Dwight Eisenhower approved the addition of adding the words “under God” on Flag Day in 1954. In making this addition, 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.”
No one can be forced to pledge allegiance to a flag, the country or to God. Why should those who want to express loyalty be denied their right to do so?