"Under God" should be abolished

Because I have accepted this debate I will be debating on side proposition of why "Under God" should indeed be abolished from the Pledge of Allegiance. [Note I am talking about all religions who believe in their own "God] I would like to start off by setting you an example: Today we see an uneven balance of religions already. One side has people who look up to God -any God based off of their religion- and one side is people who do not believe any God. This scale right now is tipped over to the side with No God at the bottom. Putting "Under God" keeps this uneven balance of religions into bigger problems that can expand in the future. Is this what unity looks like in America, where one side is becoming unconsidered just because they do not believe in any "God"? The Pledge of Allegiance is sending one direct message to everyone: Unity. But now that we put "Under God" in it, it completely undermines the whole "getting our society together" thing. President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill passed by Congress that put the words "under God" within the phrase "one nation indivisible." This is where the whole problem comes into intact. In America, they are trying so hard to unite the phrase "one nation indivisible" but with "under God" put into this, it in fact makes our nation *divided*. VIOLATION OF CONSTITUTION [1] In 2004 the Supreme Court ruled in a case from an atheist who said a California school"s pledge requirement violated his daughter"s rights under the First Amendment"s Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. However, they were overruled. It violates the First Amendment, which is that "congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." The pledge of allegiance indicates that we honour God for we are "one nation under god". But however, times have changed and people today are no longer as religious as they use to be. If there is supposed be a separation between Church and State, stating that were are "one nation under God" is not necessary and it clearly violates the constitution. The original pledge was intended to express patriotism to our country; it is unnecessary to acknowledge God. There are many people who have done many great things for our country whether they believe in god or not. It is up to an individual whether or not to practice any religion at all. In putting the words GOD in the pledge, we have changed the statement from a vow to a prayer. This country does not teach religions in public schools because they are government founded and thus would be in violation of the separation of church and state. However, in teaching our school age children the pledge we are teaching them to commend this country to GOD that makes the pledge a prayer which have been outlawed in public school systems. " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" by congress including the phrase under god in the pledge they have made a law with respect to establishing religion for the entire country. In addition, there are beliefs systems that worship more than one God, or none at all. Saying the "Pledge of Allegiance" to a god that you don't believe in, in school, at public functions, in government proceedings, etc is tantamount to forcing people to pledge against their religious (or non-religious) beliefs, which in fact violates both stances. UNFAIRNESS/DISCRIMINATION [2]The pledge"s "under God" language sends a message to public school children, and indeed to the general public, that the government favors belief in God. It then discriminates the humanist/atheists. They do not believe in a God and just because there was a war against/with Atheists, that still does not mean we leave them out in the Pledge of Allegiance. It is simply unfair to them and rather discriminatory towards their own beliefs. We live in a country with a great diversity of people. We *need* take everyone into consideration. The pledge of allegiance should be able to be equally expressed by everyone, it is unfair that who ever does not believe in God has to stay quiet while the words "Under God" are being said. The pledge itself says "with liberty and justice for all" so who are they referring to when they say justice? Only the believers of God? It makes the whole Pledge of Allegiance an unfair statement for those who are becoming forced into something do simply do not believe in. We as people have to respect their own religion. "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands"one Nation indivisible"with liberty and justice for all." This saying expresses everyone. "One Nation Indivisible". We as a nation would be much better off with this saying because the saying we have right now which addresses that we *must* be indivisible "Under God" creates a division, which is the opposite of what the Pledge of Allegiance is trying to succeed in. Rather than abolishing it, we should remove it completely and replace it with the most original one because this saying refers to every individual being; believing in a God or no God at all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) http://blog.constitutioncenter.org... 2) http://dailyprincetonian.com...