Samantha Jones, a high school
student in New Jersey, successfully protected the right of all her fellow
students to continue reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in its entirety. After hearing Samantha and her family’s case
for the words “one nation under God,” a state judge has decided to dismiss the
American Humanist Association’s (AHA) latest effort to take “under God” out of
the Pledge.
“I’m so grateful the court decided
that kids like me shouldn’t be silenced just because some people object to
timeless American values,” said Samantha – a senior at Highland Regional High
School. “Ever since I was little, I’ve
recited the Pledge of Allegiance because it sums up the values that make our
country great. The phrase ‘under God’
protects all Americans — including atheists — because it reminds the government
that it can’t take away basic human rights because it didn’t create them.”
This is the second time a state
court has stopped the AHA from outlawing the federal Pledge. Their first state-level suit, raising
identical claims, was unanimously rejected by Massachusetts’ highest court
earlier this year.
When the Jones family found out
about the lawsuit against the Pledge, they intervened to defend their children’s
rights. They are represented by the
Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Historic
defenders of the Pledge like the Knights of Columbus (the world’s largest
Catholic fraternal organization) and the American Legion also intervened in the
case.
“The message today is loud and
clear: ‘God’ is not a dirty word,” said Eric Rassbach, Deputy General Counsel
for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
“The Pledge of Allegiance isn’t a prayer, and reciting it doesn’t
magically create an official state religion. The Pledge — in the tradition of Washington’s
Farewell Address or Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address — is not a prayer to God, but
a statement about who we are as a nation. Dissenters have every right to sit out the
Pledge, but they can’t silence everyone else.”
This is the 5th time the Becket Fund
has successfully defended the Pledge of Allegiance. Courts have pointed out that the Pledge is a
voluntary patriotic exercise that teaches American history and civics, and that
no schoolchild is required to recite the Pledge against his or her conscience. Becket Fund attorney Diana Verm argued the
case to Judge Bauman, and James Paone of Freehold, NJ, acted as co-counsel.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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