The U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear over the decades since “one nation under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 that schools can’t make children say the pledge, or even salute the flag.
But despite the voluntary nature of the pledge, off and on through the years court cases are filed from individuals and groups wanting any reference to God dropped completely from the Pledge of Allegiance.
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In the fight to keep the phrase “one nation under God” in the country’s Pledge of Allegiance, these four organizations are heavy hitters.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. This organization actively works to keep the phrase “one nation under God” included in the Pledge of Allegiance, according to its website.
“Why? Because the phrase “under God” answers one of the most important questions any community can ask: Where do our rights come from? People in power tend to abuse the rights of the very citizens they are supposed to protect. By grounding human rights in a source higher than the State, every American’s rights are secured; those in power are checked and restrained; and we have a justifiable reason to stand up for people who are oppressed by dehumanizing, unjust laws.”
The American Legion. This veterans organization actively works to keep “under God” in the pledge.
“Unfortunately, as youth today salute America’s most powerful symbol in classrooms to recite the 122-year-old Pledge of Allegiance, lawsuits are being filed to eliminate the phrase ‘under God.’ However, The American Legion is making great strides in ensuring that the two words added to the Pledge of Allegiance by Congress on Flag Day in 1954 remain,” stated a June post on the American Legion website.
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The Superior Court of New Jersey granted the American Legion the right to intervene in a lawsuit, American Humanist Association v. Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, filed this year that says saying the Pledge of Allegiance violates New Jersey’s law of equal protection, according to the
Liberty Institute said. The legion lobbied to be included in the lawsuit to fight for keeping “under God” in the pledge schoolchildren say.
The Liberty Institute. Billing its purpose as “Restoring Religious Liberty in America,” the Liberty Institute takes on numerous issues, and one of those has been keeping “under God” in the nation’s Pledge of Allegiance —
and the Texas Pledge of Allegiance as well.
“Lawsuits surrounding both state pledges and the national pledge of allegiance are, unfortunately, becoming more frequent in number,” a statement on the organization’s website said. “Religion has played a critical role in our nation’s history, and the phrase ‘under God’ is not an endorsement of any particular religion — yet is considered a significant voluntary affirmation and is constitutionally protected speech.”
Knights of Columbus. This was the organization that worked with President Dwight D. Eisenhower to have the phrase “under God” added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. In a history of its dedication to seeing that the country’s pledge keeps those words, the organization said it also joined the fight in 2005 and 2007 when atheist Michael Newdow fought through the courts to do away with that phrase.
“Today the Order is directly involved in defending the Pledge against the most recent
legal challenges to its constitutionality,” the Knights of Columbus website stated.
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