SUPREME COURT TO TACKLE SUPREME BEING IN PLEDGE

I’ve got two words for you.

“Under God.”

That’s right, these two words are creating a stirring cacophony again in recent weeks as the Supreme Court of the United States began to hear almost 2,000 appeals, including one on removing these words from the Pledge of Allegiance.

This stems from a case in California last year where Dr. Michael Newdow, an unemployed emergency room physician, brought his case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Like many others, Newdow asked the perennial question: are we, indeed, one nation under God? And should schoolchildren be asked to recite the pledge everyday?

Well, if children can be subjected to common things like violence and sex on TV, surely they can recite a simple reference in the pledge that was added by Congress in 1954, a reference that U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson calls an “official acknowledgement of our nation’s religious heritage.”

Even if the First Amendment says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” the Constitution also guarantees our freedom of speech. Either say it, or don’t. Nowhere does it say that one must state it, much as someone who takes an oath of office or before a court need not say, “so help me God.” Unless you’re about to take the oath of office as the President, of course.

But there’s one striking thing in Newdow’s involvement that isn’t quite legit.

Newdow claims that as a father, he has a right to withhold public schools from “indoctrinating his impressionable young daughter on a daily basis in that official view.” However, Newdow doesn’t even have custody of his daughter, who along with her mother, who has sole custody, supports the pledge as it is.

Whether we’re now “one nation, under God” or not, we’re still one nation…period.

Although we have numerous faiths, we must recognize that whether we believe in one Supreme Being over another, we should respect the fact that our country was founded on many religious principles. If you say we need to get rid of these words, let’s axe the last verse of our National Anthem, get rid of “God Bless America” altogether, and call the U.S. Mint to start rolling the presses on some new currency.

In the words of the courts, “The recitation that ours is a nation 'under God' is not a mere acknowledgment that many Americans believe in a deity.”

So whether you praise Allah, Buddha, Krishna or hell, even Kurt Cobain, nobody is trying to force a major establishment of religion upon you.

We are entitled to many liberties as citizens of this great country. Among those liberties is freedom of religion, although in recent times, more people have been fighting for freedom from religion. With all the hoopla that’s encircling the religious aficionados who value their faith dearly, it makes me think of one other adage that promotes deity: “In God We Trust.”

But really…do we?

The world is rampant with heightened security precautions due to terrorism, criminal activities are still present, poor economic conditions still exist, and a barrage of other things still cause a thin veil of fear to be draped across the world.

Sheesh, with all that, you’d figure Dr. Newdow might find better things to do, like find a job and make attempts to spend more time with his daughter.