There’s an interesting editorial in today’s Post, pointing out the start of arguments in the Newdow case — that’s the complaint that the forced recitation of the pledge of allegiance with it “under God” line violates the constitutional ban on endorsing religion.
Linda Monk makes a good case for replacing the pledge altogether with the preamble to the constitution, pointing out a fact that most religious fundamentalists would rather ignore: the constitution doesn’t mention God.
As amended in 1954, the Pledge of Allegiance makes a statement about God’s role in the republic that the framers of the Constitution omitted in 1787. True, the signature line of the Constitution does include the standard dating convention “in the year of our Lord,” but that hardly qualifies as an assertion equivalent to “one nation under God.” Despite pleas in the ratification debates to add such divine references to the Constitution, the framers believed these are the words we all can agree on:
“We the people, of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
If John Ashcroft and George Bush, our fundamentalist leaders, have their way, you’ll find God added to the constitution everywhere. But only their God.
