One Nation Indivisible
"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." That's the Pledge of Allegiance, the patriotic vow of devotion that was officially adopted by Congress in 1942 and has since become a fixture of public schools and many government events ("Under God In The Pledge"). But the pledge is flawed, one phrase in the Pledge directly contradicts The U.S. Constitution; it divides the indivisible. The phrase "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.
"Under God" shouldn't be included in the Pledge of Allegiance because it violates the First Amendment and the idea of the separation of church and state. The First Amendment's Establishment Clause clearly states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" (Renstrom). When Congress voted to include "under God" in the Pledge they were endorsing Christianity/ monotheism and establishing it as the state religion. A similar situation can be recalled in the landmark 1962 Supreme Court case Engele v Vitale in which the court ruled that opening the school day with a prayer that read, "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen" was unconstitutional because it violated the Establishment Clause. The court's ruling stated that even though the prayer was vague, it still promoted a family of religions. Furthermore, the judges pointed out that the prayer being voluntary was irrelevant as the entire thing was unconstitutional (Renstrom). Now, what is the difference between this instance and acknowledging God in the Pledge of Allegiance? A cartoon published in American Humanist reveals that there really is none.
Fig. 1. This cartoon satirizes the implication of "under God" (Swenson).
There is no difference because in both...