The Current Pledge of Allegiance is Unconsitutional
- Debkanya Mitra- Editor and Founder
- Apr 19, 2016
- 2 min read
I believe that the pledge shouldn’t be banned, but modified. The Pledge of Allegiance is currently prayer in schools, because of the words “under God.” They are repeated everyday by most teachers and students, but “making prayer an official part of the school day is coercive and invasive,” according to the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
The controversial words “under God,” was added in 1954, as advised by President Dwight Eisenhower. These words were not added for religious reasons, but to differentiate us from Communist nations, like the USSR, with whom the US had serious rivalries with. Religion was outlawed by the USSR. There is no utility of citing religion as an American quality, because it isn’t one, and defies the Constitution. The government should be taking a neutral stance on religion.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
With the words, “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, the government, specifically President Dwight Eisenhower made an unconstitutional decision. The government should not advocate for religion over non-religion. We know that it is illegal to conduct religious ceremonies at school, and the daily-recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance should be evaluated as prayer.
The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution “prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (Legal Information Institute). It guarantees that the government protect all people, including atheists.
By continuing to have the words, “under god” in the Pledge of Allegiance, we are infringing upon the First and Fourteenth Amendment. However, these two words, “under god” can be removed from the pledge. The Pledge of Allegiance does not need to be banned; just modified.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s individual opinion which is not necessarily supported by the newspaper of Pyle Middle School as a whole. It is part of the discussion on the Pledge of Allegiance, under “Room for Debate.” The newspaper encourages you to read about the arguments on both sides of the issue.
An earlier version of this article was titled 'The Pledge of Allegiance is Unconstitutional' but was changed on April 22, 2016 to the current title, 'The Current Pledge of Allegiance is Unconstitutional'.
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