|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
Under Whose God
"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. ... Under God. ... The Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic men’s group started a campaign to add the words “under God” to the Pledge. ... His sermon in part said:
“He is pledging allegiance to a state, which through its founders, laws and culture, does as a matter of fact believe in the existence of God. ... Without this phrase ‘under God,’ The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag might have been recited with similar sincerity by Muscovite children at the beginning of their school day. ... On June 8, 1954, the bill to add God to the pledge, sponsored by Senator Homer Ferguson was approved by Congress. ... Newdow from California, it was ruled that Congress violated the First Amendment when it revised the pledge to include “under God”. ... The court noted:
“A profession that we are a nation ‘under God’ is identical…to a profession that we are a nation ‘under Jesus,’ a nation ‘under Vishun,’ a nation ‘under Zeus,’ or a nation ‘under no god,’ because none of these professions can be neutral with respect of religion. ... According to the majority opinion, the Pledge definitely endorses religion and religious belief:
…the phrase ‘one nation under God’ in the context of the Pledge is normative. ...
According to the Court, the Pledge fails the test because the history of the words “under God” in the pledge makes it clear that it was used to advance religion. The court also proved that the school district’s policy also failed the Lemon Test because
the policy is highly likely to convey an impermissible message of endorsement to some and disapproval to others of their beliefs regarding the existence of a monotheistic God. ... As a result of this, the court found that the use of the words ‘under God’ and the school districts policy were both violations of the Establishment Clause. ... ‘God Bless America’ and ‘America the Beautiful’ will be gone for sure, and while use of the first and second stanzas of the Star Spangled Banner will still be permissible, we will be precluded from straying into the third. ... However, since the decision proves without a doubt that “under God” fails to pass every Establishment Clause, Judge Goodwin was confident that the Court would also rule the way the panel did.
Approximate Word count = 1935
Approximate Pages = 7.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|