New Hampshire Pledges Allegiance to the Flag
WASHINGTON- New Hampshire’s Congress members unanimously favor keeping the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.
They expressed their views as the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether to uphold a ruling last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9 th Circuit, which said the two words should not be in the pledge recited for a half century by millions of schoolchildren.
Two years ago a California atheist, Michael A. Newdow, sued the federal and state governments and his daughter’s local school board over the use of “under God” in the pledge. The appeals court agreed that the inclusion of the words constituted state-sponsored affirmation of monotheism, and therefore violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
Every morning, teachers and students across America voluntarily recite these words: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
The Pledge was originally written more than a century ago, but the controversial words have been part of the Pledge only since 1954, when they were added during the height of the Cold War as a way of distinguishing the United States from the officially atheistic Soviet Union.
The all-Republican New Hampshire delegation wants those words to stay.
Sen. John Sununu, called the appellate court decision “a bizarre ruling, squarely out of touch with the views of millions of men and women across America.” In his statement, he praised the values and freedoms that are “embodied in the very pledge we recite” and said they are what “American soldiers are fighting for.”
Sen. Judd Gregg said in a statement: “The American flag is the symbol of the strength and character of our nation. We must stand together united in our support for the men and women of our armed forces who are in the front lines protecting our liberties.”
Reps. Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass agreed.
In an interview, Bradley said that “the Pledge of Allegiance doesn’t establish a religion” and that he hopes the Supreme Court will uphold its constitutionality.
Bass, according to press secretary Lee Ross, “supports the notion that the pledge symbolizes our nation that is united by the ideals of liberty, equality, opportunity and justice for all” and believes the establishment clause “was designed to prevent the establishment of a national religion–not to remove any reference to God from our society.”
