Speedkill

Court Allows ‘Under God’ on Technicality

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday allowed millions of schoolchildren to keep affirming loyalty to one nation “under God” but dodged the underlying question of whether the Pledge of Allegiance is an unconstitutional blending of church and state.

The ruling overturned a lower court decision that the religious reference made the pledge unconstitutional in public schools. But the decision did so on technical grounds, ruling the man who brought the case on behalf of his 10-year-old daughter could not legally represent her.

Bah, they aren’t any fun. I still don’t know what to think about this whole thing. I don’t think it’s good for the Left in general, as it’s likely to piss off most people. But, I think it’s probably right to remove it. It’s not favoring a religion, because “god” is not specific to any one religion, but it favors religion in general. Even if kids are not required to recite it (which seems to have been made a non-issue: couldn’t the Court have decided that for school prayer, instead of removing it outright?) it’s still government sponsored. I need to read more on the arguments against removing it, but this doesn’t seem convincing:

The phrase “one nation under God” is more about ceremony and history than about religion, Rehnquist wrote.

Anyway, I should read some more on the arguments against. And for, for that matter.