"One Nation, Under God"

By CHARLES AUSTIN

In these days of energized patriotism, with its subtext of religious piety, it is unlikely that any discussion about "one nation under God" will be reasoned and logical. Those who believe that the U.S. judicial system has already yanked the deity out of public life are once again lining up to do battle on behalf of both God and country.

The rush to the battlements is prompted by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. The words "under God" have not always been part of the pledge. They were added in 1954, during the height of the Cold War when many felt the U.S. was in a life-or-death struggle with "godless communism."

This is not likely to be a rational discussion, whether one holds to a specific faith or questions all religious belief. There is already talk of a constitutional amendment to preserve the "under God" phrase. And - given the current national mood - the discussion is likely to propel civil authorities towards unwise steps to "protect" the declaration that the United States is a nation "under God." Ironically, they will do so while taking pains to avoid stating specifically just who he (or she or it) is.

But many questions should be raised before rushing to judgement.

Does God need the protection of U.S. legislators? Is God damaged if jurists say that the holy name cannot be mentioned in certain limited public, official ways? It will be hard for some to remember in this heated debate that people are still free to believe, to pray, to use the name of God in whatever way suits them, even in public discourse. But in recent history of our country, authorities have tried to make sure that the government - as a secular power over people of widely-varying religious beliefs - neither endorses a particular religious faith nor requires people to say that they do.

This also protects the right of believers and religious organizations to define themselves according to their doctrines. Christianity, for example, teaches that all nations are indeed "under God," even if a particular nation rejects that concept. Christianity attaches very specific teachings about Jesus and the Bible to their concept of God. Without those attachments, you do not describe the Christian deity. The God professed by Judaism is also a very specific deity, with a clearly-understood history of dealing with humanity. Jews should be offended by a reference to God as some kind of vague, undefined "higher power." Each religion has unique dogmas critical to those who hold that faith.

What public good would be served by "legalizing" a reference to God in a patriotic oath? Will people of faith be any more religious or patriotic if a government-imposed pledge acknowledges a generic God? Is there any public value to making skeptics or atheists - who can be just as patriotic as believers - declare their allegiance using words they cannot accept? What is served by requiring the children of non-believers to excuse themselves from the opening exercises of their school day because they cannot profess their patriotism without acknowledging a religious tenet?

And what about the danger of so closely linking God and country that they become virtually inseparable? The phrase, "one nation under God," can give the impression that this is the only nation under God or that the United States has some special standing with God. There are countless examples in history of times when believers had to assert that their faith took precedence over their nationality in order to resist a secular state that had become demonic or oppose government policies that they believed to be immoral.

For some, the very idea of pledging one's allegiance to a secular power is religiously offensive. That idea may be unpopular, but it is the kind of freedom of thought that the U.S. Constitution is supposed to protect.

Let people who have religious faith find ways - without government interference or insistence - to express their faith in public life. Let them remember that some of their fellow citizens do not accept their view of divinity.

Let citizens discover the value of patriotism and loyalty through understanding the virtue of the nation and its goals rather than by reciting a "pledge of allegiance" as a first-grader. Let all remember that as there are various ways to express religious faith, there are various ways of being patriotic.

(Charles Austin is a retired Lutheran clergyman and a reporter for The Record.)