Supreme Court Takes Pledge of Allegiance Case

ADF official comment
Published

WASHINGTON, DC –  The Alliance Defense Fund, America’s largest public interest religious liberty legal alliance, announced that it supports today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court to accept the Pledge of Allegiance case, Elk Grove Unified School District v. Michael Newdow.  The case was appealed from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

"The attempt to remove the words ‘under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance demonstrates that those who have contempt for America’s heritage won’t go away," said Alan E. Sears, president of the Alliance Defense Fund.  "The Supreme Court did the right thing by accepting this case for review.  Now let’s pray the court continues to do the right thing by telling Mr. Newdow’s complaint to go away."

The words "under God" are an affront only to those who reject America’s traditional embrace of religion in the public square, Sears explained. 

"Our Declaration of Independence contains four references to God: God as the Creator and the source of liberty (all men are endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights), God the law giver (law of nature and of nature’s God), God the ultimate judge (the Supreme Judge of the World), and God as the king above all earthly rulers, as the Sovereign (Divine Providence)." 

Sears stated that it’s right and appropriate for our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance to acknowledge the same higher law and see its blessings as our nation did in the Declaration and other founding documents. 

"When our great founding father, General George Washington, received a copy of the Declaration of Independence from the Continental Congress, he immediately issued orders that ‘The Colonels or commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains accordingly; persons of good Characters and exemplary lives,’" Sears said.  "At Washington’s first inauguration in New York City, Washington took the oath of office on a Bible opened to Genesis 49 and 50, and added the words repeated by every president since, ‘So help me God.’" 

Sears added:  "The spirit of General Washington and his contemporaries would undoubtedly be in full agreement with a pledge that says ‘one nation under God.’  To think otherwise is inconsistent with the testimony of history."

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.