Opinion
By Alec Solotorovsky
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March 30, 2004
THE FIRST line in the Bill of Rights states that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, yet in 1954, Congress inserted the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, in order to distinguish the United States from the atheist nations of the communist bloc.
It's difficult to see how the addition of a deity to America's traditional oath of loyalty is anything other than an establishment of religion, but such was the matter before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, as Dr. Michael Newdow argued that the recitation of the pledge in public schools is unconstitutional so long as it contains the reference to God.