“One nation, under God.” These are words we have all grown up saying. We recited them every day for 12 years in grade school and we often recite them before meetings. But how closely do any of us really analyze what is being said? In a nation that touts separation of church and state as a fundamental tenet of government, religious phrases such as this one have no place in our Pledge of Allegiance.
The pledge was written in 1892 by minister Francis Bellamy. His oath has, for the most part, remained in its original form, but there has been one glaring addition: the non-secular words, “under God.” These words were not added until 1954 under President Eisenhower at the urging of a number of religious groups such as the Knights of Columbus — a Catholic organization — and other prominent ministers such as George MacPherson Docherty.
But why does this added phrase remain in the pledge after so many court decisions have made it a policy to keep religion out of secular institutions? Prayer is not allowed in public schools; many of us grew up with a “moment of silence” instead. The debate about whether creationism should be taught alongside evolution in science classes has also been hotly debated, and most states have decided to omit school lessons on creationism. Alabama, meanwhile, has removed the Ten Commandments from courtrooms. All these rulings were made in the interest of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Proponents of this debated phrase argue that the United States is a Christian nation based on Judeo-Christian values. And while there is no doubt that the majority of Americans are Christians, it does not follow that America is a Christian nation. The Constitution has assured this distinction through the First Amendment. Although the issue about whether the founding fathers were deists or Christians is often hotly debated, it is clear they had no intention of founding the United States on Christianity. John Adams even signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which stated that “the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.”
Actually, atheism and agnosticism are on the rise in our country. A 2008 American Religious Identification survey showed that 15 percent of Americans claim to belong to no religion. This number is up from the 8 percent who claimed to have no religion in 1990. Polls also show Christianity on the decline, from 86 percent of Americans claiming Christianity in 1990 down to 76 percent in 2008. And while many Christians see this as a reason for concern, it should be interpreted as a reason to re-evaluate some of our basic practices, such as reciting “under God” and using the phrase “in God we Trust” on U.S. currency.
Although the majority of Americans consider themselves religious, this does not mean that the nation’s non-religious minority should be silenced on the issue. Alexis de Tocqueville, followed by John Stuart Mill, argued against “the tyranny of the majority,” and this sentiment was further echoed in the Federalist Papers under the phrase, “the violence of faction.” Clearly the words “under God” are neither tyrannical nor violent, but the premise remains. The minority’s rights should not be infringed upon at the whim of the majority. And in this case, it is the Constitutional right to freedom of religion — or lack thereof — that must remain. The majority cannot insert a religious belief into secular institutions.
“Under God” and “in God we Trust” have become so commonplace in our nation that we hardly consider the fact that these words have no place in secular government. Though it seems a small issue, it is actually quite indicative of a much larger debate brewing in our country. Debates over what should be taught in our public schools and what is appropriate in our government institutions have the subjects of popular between political candidates since the evolution debate began in 1925 with the Scopes Trial. While debating these issues, it is important to keep in mind the Founding Fathers’ original intent and to consider Thomas Jefferson’s famous words that the First Amendment was included as “a wall of separation between Church and State.”
Claire Shotwell’s column normally appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at c.shotwell@cavalierdaily.com.
Do you believe in God? America is in the shape it’s in due to lack of living the way God would want us to live. We all will be judged someday when we take our last breath. When you write somthing, it is in stone and it can not be changed forever. Are you helping or making things worse? Is your purpose in life to tear down God? We all have a purpose given to us by God,
I hope your name is in the book of life.
Jay Dykla
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President Thomas Jefferson also wrote, “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time” and asked ‘Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are of God?’”
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In response to both of the preceding remarks:
Although the US is one of the most religious nations on earth, it has higher levels of violence, rape, STDs, divorce, and out of wedlock pregnancies than any of the more secular nations of western Europe, or Japan. (Indeed, research indicates that the most religious among us have more of the preceding problems than agnostics and atheisst.) Relying solely on data then, it would be possible to claim precisely the opposite of Mr. Dykla, that is that widespread belief in a god leads to our problems rather than offering any solution.
As for Mr Wisdom, Jefferson, and most founders, certainly believed in a god, just not the Christian god. They were Deists, not theists. But…if Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Adams, et al had known about all the scientific discoveries that we know about today there can be little doubt that they would have been at best agnostics.
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Read Article 11 of the Treaty between the United States and Tripoli signed in 1797. Ratified unanimously by a Senate full of founding fathers, and pushed for by John Adams himself. Article 11 expressly states that the United States is NOT a Christian nation (it also states that we have no animosity towards Muslims)….
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Gee, what were these guys thinking when they wrote of God in the very first paragraph they wrote in the Declaration of Independence, and later wrote how they were all endowed by their Creator? What Creator? And just what did they mean by signing the constitution itself by saying it was “the year of our Lord?” What Lord? Huh?
These may seem like silly questions, but not to modern day far left, atheist ideologues. But repeating the historical fact that the constitution was written by religious people for a religious country and did not need to mention God in every paragraph is really missing the point here. I think the basis of this argument is that the constitution itself needs to go.
Rational people can read these documents and know the history of this time and these folks, and easily conclude that they simply wanted none one of their different Christian religions from having power over any of the others in the new country they were hoping to form. But the modern day atheists want to rewrite history and remove the words written by these men. Perhaps the rest of their words, too..
I understand why they would want to, but it’s simply not going to happen. Nor should it. The separation of church and state in America, like many other facets of the constitution, has worked very well over the years. Changing anything about our money or our pledges is not only a waste of time, it is unconstitutional. That’s where I get back to thinking what they really want to do is get rid of the document altogether.
I mean, it was written exclusively by white men, right? And among that crowd, that basically means you’re the enemy these days. It is indicative of this crowd that everything before Woodstock was bad, and they have since been fighting as self proclaimed “progressives” to change America into a Godless state based upon Marxist economic principles and adopt social policies to the liking of Hugh Hefner and Timothy Leary. The constitution, be it in it’s original or current form, is quite an impediment to them in these endeavors.
They’ve had their successes, for sure. From 1965 to 1975, our crime rate and drug usage skyrocketed, our big cities featured pogroms and descended into hell holes, and we have over 50 million less taxpayers now paying into social security and medicare thanks to their having been aborted. That real social justice movements in America were organized and run by very religious people who likewise invoked God as the reason we needed to change our ways is of no consequence to them. The abolitionist and civil rights movements are just two of these.
The United remains at least tied for the best place in the world to be a law abiding worshiper of any religion, or indeed an atheist or agnostic. It has been for a long time. The majority is not forcing it’s belief into secular institutions any more than they are oppressing atheists. No changes are needed to something that has worked so well, for so long.
But it’s easy to see here – with their incessant attacks on the right to life, the 2nd. amendment, and tradition religious ethics – that their core belief is that the constitution is an outdated, stuffy, old rag that was written by a bunch of white men of wealth (some of whom owned slaves). It may indeed be all those things. But it also happens to be the most enduring and admired document of it’s kind in human history; one that still draws people from every country on earth hoping to live under its protections. And the anti constitutionalists have shown us all where their alternative ideas regarding governance get us too many times as it is.
Here’s some more Claire Shotwell wisdom from just 2 months ago..
“The new Republican nominations and the current state of the Tea Party may give Democrats an edge in upcoming elections.”
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“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States
of America, and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation except for atheists, divisible, with
liberty and justice for everyone but atheists.”
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Sean,
“In the year of our Lord” was just the standard way of refering to the year at that time. Even today our years are referenced to the death of Jesus. Just because I say it’s 2010 doesn’t mean I believe in Jesus. It was just the norm back then. There is no way you can honestly look into the matter, and still think that guys like Thomas Jefferson worshiped the Christian God. The founders were clearly Diests.
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