The "Under God" Dilemma
The “Under God” Dilemma
The constitutional issue of requiring people to say “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance can easily be resolved by looking to legal precedent.
In the ‘Gobitis’ (1940) and ‘Barnette’ (1943) cases, the U.S. Supreme Court held that you could not force schoolchildren to say the Pledge nor punish them for not saying it. These cases were brought on behalf of Jehovah’s Witnesses whose consciences would not allow them to pledge to anything outside of their religious beliefs.
Applying that same principle, a child could be instructed by his or her family not to say “under God” if it is contrary to their religious or political beliefs.
The constitutional issue of requiring people to say “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance can easily be resolved by looking to legal precedent.
In the ‘Gobitis’ (1940) and ‘Barnette’ (1943) cases, the U.S. Supreme Court held that you could not force schoolchildren to say the Pledge nor punish them for not saying it. These cases were brought on behalf of Jehovah’s Witnesses whose consciences would not allow them to pledge to anything outside of their religious beliefs.
Applying that same principle, a child could be instructed by his or her family not to say “under God” if it is contrary to their religious or political beliefs.
posted by Jack Cormode at 11:14 PM
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