October 22, 2003
BLESSED NATION:
Case involving pledge should be easy for justices to decide (Terry Eastland, 10/22/03, Jewish World Review)
[I]t certainly is wrong to understand "under G-d" in isolation. The pledge needs to be taken in its entirety.As such, it still is a pledge to the flag and the republic for which it stands.
It still is a patriotic statement and not a religious one, the words "under G-d" accomplishing the congressional intention of affirming the role of religion in the life of the nation.
That role traces back to Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg ("that this nation, under G-d, shall have a new birth of freedom") and to the Declaration of Independence ("endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights").
And to the Constitution's express purpose to "secure the Blessings of Liberty". Posted by Orrin Judd at October 22, 2003 9:20 AM
Eastland is assuming that the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln's presidency are constitutional. These days, that may be a stretch.
Posted by: pj at October 22, 2003 7:56 PMThe Newdow case will be reversed on narrow procedural grounds, because Newdow is not the child's custodial parent.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at October 23, 2003 12:27 AM