"As I'm standing in line, I'm looking at the twenty dollar bill, and it says 'In God We Trust'...I thought, 'What is going on here?  I don't trust in God.  I'm an American.” -- Michael Newdow

Person of the week

California physician and lawyer, Michael Newdow, filed a lawsuit that reached the ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002. Newdow claimed that the phrase, "under God", in the Pledge of Allegiance, was offensive to him as an atheist, and a violation of the separation of church and state. He further alleged that the recitation of the Pledge in his daughter's public school interfered with his right to direct her religious beliefs.  The Ninth Circuit Court agreed, and Michael Newdow became Time magazine's Person of the Week on June 28, 2002.

Although the court's ruling was later overturned on a technicality, Newdow has been dogged in his efforts to rid the Pledge of its reference to God. A key to his argument is that, "under God," was not part of the original Pledge and, thus, represents an imposition of religion by the government.

Newdow is partly right. The Pledge, as first penned in 1892, didn't mention God.   But in 1954, with the rising influence of communism, there was concern that the Pledge sounded too similar to the affirmations of atheistic regimes. Thus, Congress amended the Pledge as it currently reads.

Was the revision an effort to coerce religion on the citizenry? Was it an unconstitutional endorsement of religion? Or was it intended as a reminder of our country's historical foundation?

Historical roots

At the heart of the American experiment is the Declaration of Independence. By proclaiming opposition to the monarchal rule of England and by announcing the guiding principles of the new republic, the Declaration of Independence is the cornerstone of the United States rule of law.