Government (Constitution/Pledge):
The Pledge of Allegiance and Declaration of Independence Unconstitutional?

America’s Identity and Purpose Under Fire Via Censorship of American History

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August 2002

By Colonel Ronald D. Ray, guest author for the NJ Family Policy Council, Parsippany, NJ.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the phrase “under God”. The shocking ruling struck a cord in the hearts of most Americans, and after the huge outcry from the American public, Congress, and President Bush, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco issued a “stay”, placing their decision on hold. But even as the Justice Department filed documents last week in an attempt to stop this decision in its tracks, the overall battle for the soul of our nation and its history continues to rage.

Prohibiting little children from saying the Pledge is just another step on a very long and winding road. On March 10, 2002, a middle-school student music group was uninvited from performing at a September 11th Red Cross volunteer recognition event because the children planned to sing “inappropriate” songs mentioning “prayer” “God”, Lee Greenwald’s “God Bless the USA”, and a song based on the Declaration of Independence.

Last year, New Jersey school children were prohibited from reciting a small passage from the Declaration of Independence as the school day begins. This year, the NJ Department of Education attempted to remove references to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin from the state’s History core curriculum standards.

In May of 2000, a federal judge in Kentucky did what the mighty British Empire could not do during the War for Independence and the War of 1812. He struck down the Declaration of Independence from school and courthouse walls, claiming it was somehow a religious document. The Declaration, America’s founding document, which the supreme Court repeatedly says is part of the fundamental law of the United States, is not posted for Kentucky school children to see because today it has become a church or religious document, since it mentions the Creator four times.

Meanwhile, as America’s official and permanent historical documents have come under fire, the nation’s historic awareness and aptitude have likewise deteriorated since World War II. On June 30, 1998 The Washington Times reported the “Nation is Woefully Ignorant of History”. A survey commissioned by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation found 1 in 5 American teenagers don’t know from what country America won its independence. Nearly 1 in 4 didn’t know who fought the Civil War, and 13 percent thought the Civil War was between the U.S. and England.

The National Education Association in November 1967 boasted one explanation for the now pervasive ignorance: The nation’s schoolhouses haven’t taught full and accurate American History, civics or government from official documents since 1965.

It is therefore not surprising that many do not understand that mentioning “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance does not make one a Christian, but simply acknowledges the fact that America has a state and legal code founded on the Ten Commandments of the Bible, just as many Arab countries have a law and civil code grounded on the Koran. Or, that America’s rights do not come from government as they do in communist countries, but rather from God, and that those basic rights can not be taken away by the government. Or, that our Declaration of Independence points to the source of “Divine Providence” for our nation’s provision and protection.

The ignorance of the current generation poses challenges to our nation’s future. The transmission of America’s intangibles of independence, patriotism, self reliance, duty, honor, virtue and the single national standard for right and wrong, are fading as America’s founding principles, as purpose and identity – found in original historic state documents (like the Declaration) – have been censored in the nation’s schoolhouses. If these principles are not instilled in our schools, we will become “a nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do”, as President Woodrow Wilson aptly put it back in 1913. He went on to say “ We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about”.

In an effort to reaffirm America’s historic national identity and purpose, on July 14, 1992 the Kentucky Legislature became the first state to outlaw the censorship of American History in schools, based on religious references, and encouraged the posting and reading of texts and documents of America’s history and heritage. Now, in the patriotic swell since September 11th 2001 and the “War on Terrorism”, there is a new opportunity to teach and recall the nation’s identity and purpose as laid down by the nation’s founders. New Jersey and the rest of the country would do well to pass similar laws to preserve the teaching of America’s true historic identity. The survival of our American way of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness depends upon it.

 

 

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