Constitutionality of the "Pledge of Allegiance"

You've got to be kidding! THis is really an issue that Congress should be dealing with?

There's some truly idiotic responses on this board to this item. The ignorance and stupidity of Americans is totally astounding. To begin with, the Pledge, as has been pointed out here, was originally an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant oath puked up by some charlatan clergyman (read that: "slacker," or "loafer") in the late 19th century. This nauseating and demeaning little exercise in social and mind control apparently appealled to American shovelheads of the first half of the 20th century, and the equally shovelheaded Congress of the time enfranchised it. It wasn't until 1954 when an even more-shovelheaded Congress allowed the obstrusive use of "under God" in the craven oath, to appease pushy protectors of drunks and child molesters. Of course, such inclusion of "under God" in the oath is a violation of the establishment clause, but, no matter. The Biblethumping noodlebrained righties out there never have a problem with disrespecting the Constitution for the sake of their mutant rel... Read more

are you kidding? go live in Iran if you disagree!

The history of the pledge is interesting and informative of the twists and turns in our history. The pledge was originally thought up as an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant device by Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy, who also was a socialist. The original pledge was crafted in 1892. The elite thought the various peoples who were pouring into the country owed allegiance to the Pope, kings, other potentates, don't you see? What is rather odd about the pledge is the adoration of the flag, not the constitution or something else more relevant to the essence of the country. The pledge had to be crafted carefully so that question of equality did not spring up because after all, Blacks, Indians, Women, Chinese, and more, did not have the vote, and we wouldn't want that to become a matter of controversy, do we? So the flag was the device to be given allegiance, which is odd if you think about it. The pledge picked up steam. What is really funny is that you were supposed to give ... Read more

The pledge is stupid but I just don't see what the big deal is. . .now the idiots on both sides will come out of their coffins and start taking up time and space on the news.

I was watching the liberal media today when I heard the liberal newsman complaining that some liberal court in California (a state that has gay people!) ruled it unconstitutional for children to recite the Pledge in our liberal schools .... hmmm, do I detect a conflict of 'liberal' interests here? These people need to be on the same page if our plans for indoctrination into the liberal flag-burning godless homosexual lifestyle are ever going to manifest...

No one has ever questioned the constitutionality of the Pledge. What has been questioned is the consitutionality of government agents leading kids in the religious oath of feality that the McCarthyites stuck in the middle. If you cannot pledge allegiance to our flag, then you do not deserve the freedoms for which our flag stands for or deserve to live in the United States.There is no other way around it. Everyone deserves all the freedoms our flag stands for. Check the Declaration of Independence.

The Pledge of Allegiance should be left alone no matter what it says. Don't screw with something we've had for so long.

There's always Canada or France for those who don't like it here.

This shouldn't be an issue at all. Two little words are all it takes to get some people fired up in this country? I know there's supposed to be a seperation of Church and state, but most people believe in a God of some sort. And those that don't are not forced into saying those words. There's so much more going on in this country and in our world is what I'm saying.

who cares? i haven't said this stupid thing since i was 10. now, i just laugh when someone wants me to Pledge anything. let them have god in the pledge. it makes the crazy nuts happy to say it.

I am an Atheist Minister and i see no problem with the current state of the POA. This country WAS founded under the founding fathers' idea of god, and to ignore that is silly. As it stands, no child is forced to recite it anyway, i know i never did, although occaisionally they did try to make me stand and salute the boring ol piece of fabric. However i simply refused to do so and that was it. If your school is trying to FORCE kids to say ANYTHING, then you should take them out and teach them yourself.

If it was good enough for the last 50 years its good enough for me.

The Pledge of Allegiance is pointless tripe. Loving your country isn't about an empty symbol. Forcing children to recite a loyalty oath will only inspire patriotism in the most dim-witted , broken chromosomal mutants. As far as the phrase Under God goes, leave it in. Who cares? It doesn't offend me as an athiest, nor should it offend anyone else. Pointless issue.

This is insane that this subject has even been brought up.If you cannot pledge allegiance to our flag, then you do not deserve the freedoms for which our flag stands for or deserve to live in the United States.There is no other way around it.

If you don't want to say it, don't.

The Pledge is a minor issue in the broader scheme of things, but it's an interesting one. The role of religion in our society and defining what is religious and what is not is a debate that have been going on since the founding of the United States. I know that foreigners consider these types of debates strange, but they occur because paradoxically we are a religious country and a secular one as well; we separate state and church. The disagreement lies in what's the dividing line between private and public faith. The reason why the founders established the separation of church and state was to prevent the establishment of a national church which could in turn dictate policy by fiat. They did not want the same model of governance that European nations had, where the church was on equal footing with the secular government. That's one of the greatest decisions the founders made; keeping these two distinct forces apart has prevented lots of unnecessary tension that would have arisen had th... Read more

Cmon now we're getting ridiculous.

I used to have strong issues on this one...but anymore I just want people to be happy...if someone wants to say God in the pledge of allegiance...let them ! And if you don't believe in God, don't say the part of the pledge where it says UNDER GOD...no one is actually forcing you to do this..in fact they probably wouldn't even notice it...just let people do what they want when it comes to such stuff...people have the right to believe in God if they so wish...and vice versa...

The importance of this as a political issue could rise, but I think the the words, under God should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge is used officially for the government sometimes, and since there is supposed to be a Separation of Church and State in this country, these controversial words should be removed.

Here is another colossal time-waster. That anyone even considers this issues shows how far ahead of the other countries we are. While a mojority of countries can't even feed its own people, some people in America - mainly, the unwashed, soap-loathing ACLU-types - want to nitpick the recital of a few lines. Hilarious.

SAY IT< BE PROUD OF IT

It's not about God. It's about America.

The constitutionality of the "Pledge of Allegiance" is an issue which is largely academic (ie minor), but it is interesting. As others have noted, the words at issue referencing "God" were originally inserted during the Cold War era; however, even a noble intent does not make a matter immune to the Federal Constitution. As the only way the phrase can be defended is to resort to some religious grounds, the unconstitutionality of the reference to God becomes clear. The only possible defense would be based on historical grounds (eg "In God We Trust" on coinage and currency); however, this doesn't seem to apply in the case of the "Pledge of Allegiance." Nevertheless, the bottom line is that this still remains a minor issue when compared to the other issues on this list.

Should be abolished in my opinion. It encourages blind faith in something which is never good. At least the god part should be removed since it alienates anyone who doesn't believe in him.

This isn't even important. Don't we have a lot of other issues to be worrying about? Our economy sucks, we've been thrown into a battle we that isn't helping anyone, and there are plenty of criminals in America who need to be dealt with. The Pledge of Allegiance has been said for decades, and even if the words "under God" were only recently added, who cares? We've been saying it since then. How about this, if you have a problem with that, skip those words, and get over it. Everyone wants everything his/her way these days, and it just doesn't work out that way. There's got to be a little give and take. Just suck it up.

This is a non-issue. It's more about sentimentality than anything else. I, for one, never got tears in my eyes reciting the Pledge of Allegiance when I was a kid, so why don't we just give it up and sing the Star-Spangled Banner instead? I mean, come on, people: don't you remeber reciting the Pledge? It was the most boring thing in the world.

"I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." This was the original pledge. No under God in here. We have a diverse population. ALL of our ancestors came from elsewhere (exception Native Americans) with diverse beliefs. The purpose of a pledge is to unite a country civically. Separation of Church and State is fundamental. We had a motto, too. E pluribus unum. These were changes made in my lifetime, and I'd just as soon see them brought back. It's not about majority rule - it's about liberty and justice. Leave religion out of this. Look at other cultures that accentuate religious difference and you see the trouble it causes.

Separation of church and state...enough said!

There's no sense whatsoever in changing our pledge just so a few atheists won't cry. Like it or not, this country was founded on Christian principles. I guess all you people forgot why the first settlers came here in the first place.

While I have my own views about it, I do believe that way too big a deal is being made about this with all of the problems in our country right now. Nonetheless, let us examine the 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." This is how I believe that the pledge of allegiance shouls be worded: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all". The removal of one simple world totally resolves this issue. The Pledge of Allegience is simply that: you are pledging allegiance to the United States of America, not God. I've seen several cases where a student exercises his or her right to sit down during the Pledge of Allegience, usually causing the other kids to bluntly call him unpatriotic. Why? He may not be unpatriotic, ... Read more

Say it if you want to say it, don't say it if you don't. Nobody can force anyone to say this, except perhaps at gunpoint. There are plenty more pressing issues this country has to deal with now anyway.

My school has a new rule about the,"One Nation under God" part of the pledge. Since I am in high school, we understand the meaning of the phrase and we choose to either agree or disagree with the statement. At my school, if we do not believe in this statement, we are allowed to sit out during the morning pledge. If we agree with it, we show our patriotism and stand up and recite the pledge. It's that simple, for those who believe, say it, for those that don't, ignore it. There's no point in arguing about it, just ignore it, if you don't like it. Personally, this is a good rule. I don't believe it, so I choose not to recite it. I won't pitch a fit about it just because it says God...who cares!

I think that we should all stand up and acknowledge the flag,the words to the pledge of allegiance means a lot. we have lots and lots of soldiers in iraq fighting fou our country and the country of others. I also think that we should say the pledge of allegiance, with respect,we should all have respect,and Honor for our nation. that flag represents the united states of america. we should all remember the line of the flag, that states, FOR WHICH IT STANDS ONE NATION UNDER GOD INDIVIDUAL AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

(My rating is based on the importance of the issue--I think there are more pressing issues at hand). Being non-religious, I simply chose not to say the "under God" part when I was in school, and no one complained. If anyone else wants to say it, I say "go for it", just as long as I'm not pressured to do it. It wasn't part of the original pledge, and it does infringe on the Constitutional rights of those who choose to worship other gods, but considering everything else that's going on in our country and in our world at the moment, we've got other things to take care of first. If you want to say "under God", go for it; if not, then don't say it.

I personally dont believe in a particular God, but I do agree with the believers on this one. This shouldn't have ever happen. What ever happened to majority rules? One man, ONE man complained, and they changed the whole thing. Those two words were extremely important to our founding fathers, millions here in America still do. The founding fathers would be apalled to see our country today. I haven't been to a school to this day where they still haven't taken out the words.

I don't see why people get so worked up over this. There are a lot more things in this world to worry about than the words "Under God", If you don't want to say the words when you're saying the Pledge, then just don't say them.

If someone wants to freely make such a pledge, fine. If not, then as it is said "It's a free country". (It is still free, isn't it?) Forced participation is therefore NOT constitutional.

This is a relatively minor issue (thus two stars), but still worthy of comment. The inclusion of the phrase "Under God" in the pledge (a latter-day development of the ultra-conformist 1950s whose main intent was to flip the bird at the godless--and now defunct--Soviet Union) is not only baldly unconstitutional in that it "establishes" religion in a governmental context, but it's corrosive to the aims that compulsory recitation of the pledge seeks to fulfill. The pledge is meant to invoke and promote national cohesion, solidarity behind the flag and loyalty to its principles as well as to the government it symbolizes ("the republic for which it stands"). Toward that end, it is not helpful to include language in the pledge that 1) is beside the point, given that church and state are constitutionally separate and the allegiance here being pledged is to the STATE; and 2) cannot be universally endorsed, due to the diversity of religious belief (and non-belief) that proliferates in this co... Read more

Man do I love how conservatives are always playing victim. The reality is that the Pledge of Allegiance is brainwashing. Having every kid stand up and repeat a really meaningless pledge everyday serves only to imbed in the students mind that what they are saying is true. If you repeat something enough especially from a young age then you'll believe it no matter what. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Kids need to have some kind of basis with which to view this country and they need to know that they are a part of something bigger. Every country has some kind of pledge. The reason I had to give it a 1 star is the phrase "Under God". First of all its a clear violation of seperation of church and state. Many would say that our money is too, but the motto on our currency as been there for two hundred years. The "Under God" was included in the pledge in the fifties to poke at the communists, who were atheists. So not only does it not have historical value, but it was specificall... Read more

OKAY! Is everybody done complaining about everything? I am not racist at all because first of all I think that racist people are garbage, but I am tired of Aryan's complaining about minorities taking their jobs, atheist complaining about the word GOD!, and everybody else who has nothing better to do than whine. Let's be realistic now. All you atheist, you may think your not living in one nation under GOD and you have the right to do so, but guess what, the rest of us are. I am not very religious and maybe it's just because I may think it's boring or I'm lazy to commit myself to it but I beleive in GOD and that we are his creation and at the end he is the one that will come down and prove all you wrong. We are living now because of HIM and we have what we have and we are who we are thanks to GOD. I don't know if youv'e been made a fool but when has church actually seperated from state, never!! Why? Because there are millions and millions of people who worship and thank him every day of... Read more

Liberals are trying to rip God out America... damn them to hell.

Being an Atheist myself I find it silly for someone who doesn't believe in God, to pledge an Allegiance to him. This doesn't really concern me as an individual though seeing as how I'm Swedish and we don't even have a pledge of Allegiance. But it's not right to be forced to utter words that are meaningless to you. Nowadays you don't have to swear to tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God" you can get up on the stand as an Atheist and testify without the God part. Why shouldn't you be able to be supportive of your country without involving something you don't believe in?

How can two words be that important? Lots of people are acting as if it's Armaggedon just because a court ruled that two words should be removed from the Pledge. And only in that district. And the decision will probably be overturned. Yet people are going insane over it. I think that the matter is essentially one of tradition and has no practical bearing on modern life.

Banning homage to God is not about the constitution, it's about Zionist attacking Christians. The schools are too busy promoting homosexuality and defaming Whites to honor God. But what else would one expect from a Zionist controlled 'education' system and federal court system that rules by decree. As an individual who supports freedom, I feel it is wrong to force children to pledge any kind of oath. I never liked reciting the Pledge myself. In fact, I resented it on principle. The system should not be brainwashing people or children into anything. But, if the school districts want to pray to God in public schools voluntarily, I say, just do it!!! The Pledge being forced on elementary children is part of the war plans and the indoctrination process. Our country is GREAT, but when it resorts to indoctrinating children into a war like obedience, we become more like the rest of the world than a shinning example of freedom protectors. God Bless America!!! But don't forget to protect your r... Read more

The poor little atheist has nothing worth crying or bitching about. As a matter of fact, it turns out that he was Jewish and his family were of a different denomination. Look, the number of people who believe in a god outweigh the ones who don't emmensely. "One nation under God." is suppose to represent a protected country. Whoever the almighty being(s) of the universe is, he or they are watching over our country. The same goes for "In God we trust." and many other phrases decorated in our country's history and success.

An interesting debate to be having... The libertarian purist in me argues: This was a stupid lawsuit that brought this issue up, but it does underscore how having government-provided schools will always create turf battles between different ideologies. I could care less about whether or not my kids will have to say the pledge, but I do care about whether they're taught that humans are a destructive force ruining the planet, which is a common assumption in virtually all children's science texts and I believe to be false and offensive. So anyway, these disptues -- in whatever form they come -- tell me that separating school and state should be the long-term goal. But then I put my realist hat back on and my opinion is this: whoever objects to the pledge is a moron and a jerk. All societies have a civic tradition that they respect -- ours is completely wrapped up in a very explicit Judeo-Christian heritage that has been more tolerant than anywhere else on earth, but nonetheless is comp... Read more

It's two words. Two words. It's not that big of a deal if they're gone.

Get rid of "under God". This nation was founded under DEMOCRACY, not God.

This country was not founded under God. It was founded under democracy and freedom of speech and religion.