Pledge and God

Letter on the Pledge:

If the Pledge of Allegiance had stated, "One Nation, under no God" then those who are religious (as they should) would object to that Pledge and there would be cries of violations of their rights. But, since it states "One Nation, under God" atheists and liberal minded theists are supposed to just brush it aside and move on. Don't be so easily offended, they are told. But, if the Pledge did state we positively we were not a nation under God, would the supporters of the current Pledge just refrain from repeating those words or would they take it to the Courts?
The government must be neutral on this question.
A 5-year-old doesn't grasp, intellectually, that he/she has a Constitutional right of free exercise of having or not having a religion. God existing or not, should be left in the marketplace of ideas; this is the idea the Court out west affirmed. A child has the right to add any words they so wish to the Pledge; what is not allowed is one that violates a neutral position.
God in the pledge isn't necessary for it to be a patriotic exercise. Michael Newdow, the man who brought this suit, represents millions of like minded individuals who do not believe the government should take a position on this issue. The lumping in of atheists already (by some) with communists I find something out of the McCarthy era. The vast majority of atheists/nonbelievers are not communists. Ayn Rand, a prominent atheist, was a strong supporter of capitalism.
God in the Pledge of Allegiance doesn't further the patriotic exercise at all, it divides us as Americans while the purpose of the Pledge was to unite. That is how it was for 60 years, since its original form until the 1950s. The Lemon test states there cannot be an unnecessary entanglement of religion, well, a division of Americans definitely meets that test.
The Founders believed in this principle also. James Madison in 1819 stated, "The Civil government's functions with complete success by the total separation of the Church from the State." Thomas Jefferson said in the Danbury Letter, "Erecting the wall of separation between church and state is absolutely essential in a free society."



Letter on response to govt. promotion of religion:

In response to the letter by Debbie Nessamar earlier this month, Ms. Nessamar I don't ask not to be offended, I ask the government not to favor religion or limit the rights of nonbelievers to be free of government coercion. The Courts never outlawed prayer in school; they outlawed government-organized prayer and Bible readings.
Any child can pray in a school. Atheists parents do indeed have a right not to see their tax dollars used as a promotional tool to further religious belief they don't agree with, as do the parents of Muslims, Jews, Hindus and even those Christians who don't like a government-sponsored prayer. No person, no matter how much of a majority their religion is, has a right, implicit or explicit, guarantee by our Constitution to promote or endorse their religion as true over others.
Ms. Nessmar also wrote, "Government leaders malign their peers for service that reflects personal convictions and beliefs." Well, I watched both major party conventions in 2004 and did not see anyone malign their peers for their religious beliefs. Both had speakers who talked about their personal religious beliefs. Indeed, of the 535 congressional delegation there is not one avowed atheist in the halls of Congress. Fifty-two percent of Americans state they would not vote for a qualified atheist for office.
The first President George Bush, while vice president in 1987, stated, "I don't know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God." Where was the outrage?
I wonder if President Bush knows that his fellow World War II fighter pilot Ted Williams was an atheist. I wonder if he realizes that thousands of atheists have fought in combat for our nation. Christians state that atheists/nonbelievers and those of other religions are just easily offended.
Well, I have strong doubts if the Pledge of Allegiance stated, "one nation, under no God," that they would just brush that off. They would call it unconstitutional, as they should. All I want is government neutrality on religion.