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Students react to 'under God' controversy
Jesse Dunn
Issue date: 4/7/04 Section: News
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"From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty," were the words spoken as President Eisenhower signed the act approving the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.
This was the time of McCarthyism, a time when America's trepidation toward communism was manifest in daily life, a time of the "Red Scare."
The phrase "under God" was believed to separate Americans from their godless adversary.
America's fear of the dissimilar was blatant half a century ago and many are now wondering if much has changed.
Michael Newdow of California finds that the phrase "under God" does not mesh with his atheist beliefs and is offended that his 9-year-old daughter recites the expression daily in school.
Newdow wants the phrase removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. The Supreme Court is hearing his case.
To state the phrase "under God" exceeds the government's neutrality, in the view of Newdow and his supporters and endorses a religion, contradicting the separation of church and state, Newdow said. Followers of this notion believe that for the national government to display support of a sanctioned faith conflicts with the First Amendment.
However, "Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion" is as much open to interpretation as "under God."
Leslie Bracy, a professor in the political science department at the UA, said many people have argued that the religion stipulation means Congress cannot establish a national religion, taken from the fact that many colonists in America had fled England to escape persecution.
Conservatives argue the position that religion and God should have a place in matters of state, as the country was "founded on religion."
