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Across the United States, children, adults and adolescents take part in a ritual as American as apple pie: the Pledge of Allegiance. Taking place in the morning, millions of people stand and recite the Pledge as a part of a firm declaration of their loyalty to the State and to the ideals that the US stands for. The Pledge, in its current form, reads: 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.
The phrase ‘under God’ is in violation of a constitutional amendment and with the act of kneeling or not reciting along during the Pledge becoming unacceptable socially, the idea that the Pledge is voluntary is no longer viable leading many to affirm in a belief of a monotheistic god, conflicting with their beliefs. Therefore, the Pledge should no longer be recited until the phrase is removed or the social conditions of this modern-day modern-dayviolatingreligion change.
The crux of the Pledge being in violation of a constitutional amendment stems from a clause found in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
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The clause, known as the Establishment Clause, states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” ('Establishment Clause'). This idea of Congress ‘respecting an establishment of religion’ was defined in the 1962 court case Everson v. Board of Education. The justices ruled that “neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church.
Neither can pass laws that aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion” (Justia). Under this definition, the phrase ‘under GGodwould violate the Establishment Clause promotes the monotheistic religions over the polytheistic religion since it prefers a group of religions over another group and does not aid all religions equally. However, it is important to note that tsamelower Courts have ruled that the Establishment Clause is not violated by the Pledge as seen in Sherman v. Community Consol. School Dist. 21 (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois). It is also important to note that the prediction of these rulings wwasfounded on the idea that since the pledge was voluntary there was no compulsion to profess a belief or disbelief in abyeligionreligionwas founded same lower; therefore, not violating the Establishment Clause or that the reference to God was a historical one in accordance with the Founding Fathers’ opinions and other old historical documents that reference God as mentioned in passing in Engel v. Vitale (United States). Though logical and understandable, these notions are inherently flawed because of a blatant disregard of intent and the climate that has been created socially and politically in regards to the Pledge. In 1954, President Eisenhower, in the grips of the Cold War; a fight with an atheist and communist USSR, signed into law that the phrase ‘under God’ be added to the Pledge with him saying during the signing “From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty” (CNN). Eisenhower’s statement proves that the phrase intended to link the Abrahamic God known as the Almighty to the American people; thus, showing a violation of the Establishment Clause, as it implies that those who do not believe in the Abrahamic God are not Americans and makes the religions that believe in the Abrahamic God preferable over the religions that do not believe in the Abrahamic God. In recent years, with the emergence of the protestation of the National Anthem by NFL players such as Colin Kaepernick by taking a knee, others have felt inspired to do the same action or something similar to that action during the Pledge while at school. However, though protected under the Court’s ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, students are being suspended for not standing for the flag as seen in 2017 with India Landry in Texas (Lord). This has led to atoms based online every day here of students being too afraid to protest the Pledge or too afraid to continue in their practice of not participating in the Pledge due to other reasons as they feel pressure from their community to stand and recite or face bullying or retribution from their peers and even from their teachers which are incited by people such as politicians like President Trump. This threatens the idea that since the Pledge is voluntary it does not violate the Establishment Clause, but since this climate exists across the country then people who would otherwise not participate in the Pledge are now pressured and fear suspension from school and so they participate. This leads to them affirming that Americans, a group they identify with, are a people of the Almighty otherwise known as the Abrahamic God; therefore, violating the idea that the State cannot force someone to profess a belief in a religion or lack thereof.
The Pledge is said throughout the country and is s, violate said in almost all schools in America whether public or private. Maryland is no exception and requires by law that the school day begins with all teachers and students standing and reciting the Pledge. However, the law does
allow for students and teachers who do not want to recite or stand for the Pledge the ability to do so. This policy is, therefore, in effect in Howard County Public Schools including Marriotts Ridge High School (HCPSS Board of Education). The climate of the modern day can be seen at the various high schools though it is more politically charged to protest the Pledge at the high schools rather than on the basis of religious beliefs or lack thereof. This is not because people simply do not care and believe unanimously on monotheistic religions, but rather they are not informed and do not see the implication that a thing they say everyday has on them, many do not believe in a religion or a monotheistic one. Therefore, it is important to bring this issue to the forefront as there is a legitimate question of the constitutionality of the Pledge about the Establishment Clause as a result of the current social climate with the protesting of the National Anthem and the Pledge.
One Nation Under God: The Pledge in Violation in the Current Social Climate. (2022, Aug 22). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/one-nation-under-god-the-pledge-in-violation-in-the-current-social-climate-essay
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