Pledge Allegiance to
Constitution (
By Dean
Hartwell
A panel of the United
States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that school classroom
recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. It objected to the
phrase “One nation, under God…” as an improper endorsement of religion in
violation of the First Amendment.
Like the rest of our national leaders, President Bush had some choice words
about the decision. He called it “ridiculous.” The United States Senate passed
a unanimous resolution endorsing the Pledge, while members of the House of
Representatives gathered to recite it.
Instead of denouncing a decision made by the judiciary branch of government,
our leaders could have studied the Constitution they swore to uphold. This
document divides power among those who write laws (legislative branch), those
who interpret them (judicial) and those who carry them out (executive). By
creating a chorus line of jeers about the Ninth Circuit panel’s decision,
members our executive and legislative branches crossed the lines of their
responsibilities and created undue prejudice about the anticipated appeal of
the decision.
The only people in this controversy who bothered to read the Constitution were
the two judges who voted for the decision. The Establishment Clause of the
First Amendment says that Congress may “make no law respecting an establishment
of religion.” The panel correctly interpreted the Pledge (codified into law in
1942 by Congress) as an establishment of religion with the “under God” phrase.
In fact, Congress amended the Pledge in 1954 to include the phrase so that the
Opponents of the decision sarcastically point out that if we follow the logic
of this decision, we should remove “In God We Trust” from coins, change the
opening of each session of the Supreme Court (“God save the
If we really love our Constitution, that would be a good start.