Criticism of The Pledge of Allegiance - Objections On The Grounds of Religion

Objections On The Grounds of Religion

Even before the addition of the phrase "under God" in 1954, legal challenges were frequently founded on the basis of freedom of religion.

Central to early challenges were Jehovah's Witnesses, a group whose beliefs preclude swearing loyalty to any power lesser than God. In the 1940 Supreme Court case Minersville School District vs. Gobitis, an 8-1 majority in the Court held that a school district's interest in promoting national unity permitted it to require Witness students to recite the Pledge along with their class mates. Gobitis was an unpopular decision in the press, and it led to a rash of mob violence and intimidation against Jehovah's Witnesses; three years later in West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette, the Court reversed itself, voting 6-3 to forbid a school from requiring the Pledge.

As a result, since 1943 public schools have been disallowed from punishing students for not reciting the Pledge. Nonetheless, it remains taught to and expected of school children in many schools, as the Court leaves many details in such matters up to respective state governments.

More specific objections have been raised since the addition of the phrase "under God" to the Pledge. The year of its addition, 1954, was also near the beginning of the Cold War anti-communist movement in the United States. Some anti-communist ideology in the U.S. identified the Soviet states with atheism.

To many observers, the addition of "under God" to the Pledge at this time suggests an identification of the U.S. as an officially religious nation. Many critics contend this is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion on the part of a government.