I came across
this article in the
Baltimore Sun (my home town newspaper) and it reminded me of the age old "separation of church and State" argument.
I don't understand what can be clearer. "Under God" is
religious. Period. Full Stop (if you're British). It
should not be and should never have been in the Pledge of
Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance is "...to the United States
of America...", not to some religion's idea of a creator. People
who do not believe in a higher being are specifically forced to speak
these words or to be singled out. Either way, it is blatant
discrimination based on religion, which is specifically forbidden by
the Constitution.
Every time this makes it to courts, judges (who are
elected!) wind up either 1)
pussying out and refusing to hear a case on a technicality, or 2) Legislating instead of Judging by ignoring the law and leaving it there.
Religious people, often fanatically so, have great power in this country. This came to mind when I was watching
The Daily Show with John Stewart
and Keira Knightley (*pause for all the guys to wipe up the drool*)
said that Americans don't swear enough. Brits do it all the
time. They don't have the Bible Belt in the UK, do they?
Anyway, this could turn into an all day rant. "God" doesn't
belong on our currency or in our pledge of allegiance or in our court
rooms. The country may have been founded by religious men, but
the specifically guaranteed freedom of religion for a reason: so that
people could not be harrassed or discriminated against for their
religion. Official sanction of religion (in any form) is a form
of discrimination to those who don't believe.
</rant>