21st Annual Bill of Rights
Art and Essay Contest, 2004-2005

TOPIC:  Does reciting "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance at school violate the Constitution?

2nd Prize, High School

by a 12th-grade Pacific Grove High School student

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." With the passage of this amendment, the Founding Fathers make it clear that, although they themselves were Christian, America as a whole should not be restricted to a single religion. The pledge of allegiance, in it current configuration, is unconstitutional and it undermines the separation of church and state that had been in place for over a century.

The pledge of allegiance was first devised in 1892 by a socialist named Francis Bellany. The original pledge reads: I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The words "my flag" were changed to "the flag of the United States of America" in the early Twentieth century so immigrants would only swear to the American flag. During the 1950s the Red Scare reached its height. During this time McCarthyism was in full swing -- the most despised aspect of communism was atheism. To establish that the United States was a Christian nation fighting an atheist nation, Congress, in violation to the Constitution, passed several laws putting God into American life. These laws ranged from putting "In God We Trust" on all currency, changing the motto of the United States from "E Pluribus Unum" to "In God We Trust", and altering the pledge of allegiance so that instead of reading "...one nation indivisible..." it now reads "...one nation under God indivisible..."

The pledge of allegiance in it current wording is unconstitutional. The wording of the First Amendment "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." clearly indicates that Congress cannot do anything that would favor any religion over another. There are several conservative arguments claiming to justify the pledge as is. Although these arguments may seem convincing at first, a closer examination reveals either flaws in their logic or little to no legal standing.

In the first argument in favor of "under God' in the pledge is an interpretation of the First Amendment is strictly interpreted to read that Congress cannot create its own state religion. This argument is backed by the fact that historically many colonists were resisting the state-run Church of England and therefore wanted to make sure that a similar scenario did not occur in the new republic. There is one major flaw with this argument. The First Amendment is worded in such a way as to not coincide with this interpretation. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." Congress cannot make a law that favors any religion, regardless of whether it is state-run or not. An examination of earlier drafts of the amendment had wording such as "not promoting one religion over another", which further reinforces this interpretation.

The second argument used to preserve the pledge as it is now is that the United States was founded by Christians who wanted to make sure that God remained an integral part of America. Proponents of this argument cite the religious overtones of the Declaration of Independence and George Washington, who often stressed the importance of religion in American life. Unfortunately, this argument is completely irrelevant as neither the Declaration of Independence now the personal opinions of George Washington have any legal standing in this issue. The Constitution is what is important, not the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution make no references to God. Indeed, the only two times religion is even mentioned in the Constitution are for restrictive purposes: The First Amendment and the final paragraph of Article VI, which states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." Furthermore, most of the Founders accepted and supported the separation created between the church and state. As president, Thomas Jefferson wrote that "...religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God...he owes account for none other for his faith or his worship..." James Madison concurred with Jefferson's sentiments in Article 1 of "Memorial and Remonstrate." Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, which was ratified by Congress in 1797, clearly makes it known that "...the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion..."

The third argument defending the pledge as it is currently written is that "under God" is a vague statement and is not discriminatory to other religions. This argument has trouble being credible merely because of the history surrounding the revision. The 1950s marked the height of animosity towards the Soviet Union and communism. Oddly enough, many Americans were more against the Soviet Union being atheist than being a totalitarian regime. To counter atheism, President Eisenhower and both parties in Congress worked hard to inject Christianity into every aspect of both private and public life. The words "under God' were put into the pledge with the deliberate intention of making the United States a Christian nation and to strike against the "evils" of atheism. To now attempt to say that having "under God" in the pledge does not condone or condemn any specific religion, when the sole purpose for adding it was to advocate Christianity and separate it from atheism, reeks of hypocrisy.

The fifth argument used for justification is that many conservatives point out that both Congress and the Supreme Court begin their sessions with a prayer, that the president ends his inauguration with "so help me God" and that all American currency has written on it "In God We Trust." In regards to the currency, legally speaking having "In God We Trust" printed on money is also unconstitutional. It came around as a law passed by Congress, which under the First Amendment is should not have been able to pass for the same reasons that changing the pledge was unconstitutional. As for the prayers conducted by Congress and the Supreme Court, it is a separate issue, and cannot be confused with this debate. Those prayers are unofficial traditions; there is no law requiring them, and therefore there is no constitutional violation.

Although the term "Separation of church and state" was coined by Thomas Jefferson and is not in the Constitution, the First Amendment does prevent Congress passing laws that promote one religion over all others. By rewording the pledge of allegiance to include "under God", Congress flagrantly violated this amendment. There is no argument that favors how the pledge is currently worded has sufficient legal or logical standing.