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God is dead in America.
Or if he’s alive, he’s disappearing faster than Casper, as more and more laws are struck against saying his name in public. It’s almost as taboo to talk about God outside of a religious setting as it is for a parent to discuss safe sex with their children.
The latest of these removals of God was the decision by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional because of the words “under God.” Although the justices stayed their decision amid public outrage when it was first made in the summer, they have now opted to stick to it and let the Supreme Court decide if the decision was right.
The words “under God” are suspect because the First Amendment protects against the national establishment of religion. What most people don’t know or forget is that until the mid-1800s — well past the ratification of the First Amendment — there were still state churches that controlled public and political life and even garnered taxes from believers and non-believers alike. The separation of church and state, therefore, was not something inherent in the inception of this country. The Founding Fathers, who believed the national laws against the government establishment against religion should apply to states, gradually drew divisions as a way to keep the various Christian denominations in the country from oppressing or controlling the others. Deism — the belief in God and his natural, divine order of things — provided a middle ground that everyone in America at the time could accept. So while the Founding Fathers believed in the separation of church and state, they also equally believed that a Supreme Being had created America and watched over its internal workings.
We were a nation under God.
The separation of church and state and the growing diversity of our country has made us a nation under God, many gods and no gods at all. This separation is good in that it allows everyone the freedom to follow the religion of his or her choice. The problem of secularization, however, comes when the “no establishment” clause begins to inadvertently restrict that freedom. Even extremely generic prayers or benedictions in government settings such as city council meetings or in public schools are becoming more and more suspect because they make a few people uncomfortable. While their comfort should be considered, and government settings are not the place for religious worship, the trend is to make it increasingly taboo to talk about God in any public setting — government or otherwise.
The phrase “under God” probably should never have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, but saying it is unconstitutional for children to say in school because it forces religion on them takes away their free choice to choose to say the pledge or not. Currently, the pledge is led in most public schools, but students do not have to say it. If the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision holds, they will be denied the right to say the full pledge as it reads today.
The references to God or a Creator are now rare, a throwback to the piety of days gone by, such as on our bills, in national or state seals, and currently in the Pledge of Allegiance. For most people, the words under God are meaningless or just a reminder of the nation’s beginnings. Others impose their own definition of God or a higher power on the words. For me, they remind me that America, like other nations, will be judged by a higher power for our actions.
Luckily, in this country Americans have the chance to decide what the words personally mean to them. But only if they are given the choice to say it.
Submitted March 13, 2003
MALIBU, CA
