Newdow takes second shot at “Under God” in Pledge

According to the Associated Press, Michael Newdow is taking another shot at the school/under god/pledge of allegiance issue. Some time in the 1950s, the Congress jammed the phrase “under God” into the pledge. Newdow filed suit on his own behalf saying it was an unconstitutional violation of his rights as an atheist parent for schools to foist a pledge involving God on his daughter.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that schools shouldn’t be requiring kids to recite an affirmation of the existence of God. The Supreme Court ducked the issue by saying Newdow didn’t have standing because he didn’t have custody of his daughter when he filed the suit. Now, Newdow is acting as an attorney for three unnamed parents and their children. The California District Court Judge who heard the case said that the previous 9th Circuit decision is still good law, and he was bound by it. Now it will go up to the 9th Circuit. Presuming they don’t change their minds, Newdow will likely be gunning for a cleaner shot at the Supreme Court where it will have to decide the issue correctly. directly. (Typo there — obviously the S.Ct. is never required to decide an issue correctly. “A Supreme Court decision isn’t final because it’s right; it’s right because it’s final.”)

In my mind this is one of those issues where Newdow is right but I can’t work up much excitement for him. It’ll get overly sensitive religious types all worked up. It’ll get patriotic types with short attention spans all worked up because they won’t hear anything more than “atheist trying to ban the Pledge of Allegiance!” And, at the end of the day, even if he wins, it won’t do a whole lot for the advancement of Enlightenment values in our country.

Personally, I’d like to see the Congress repeal the McCarthy era law that inserted “under God” into the Pledge and ruined its cadence. I feel an allegiance to my country whether it’s under God or under nothing. No need to throw 3 extra syllables into an otherwise perfectly good verse in the name of a superfluous sentiment.