The Layman – August 2002 Volume 35, Number 4 – Posted July 19, 2002

Unity under God on trial “Outrageous” and “political correctness run amok” is what lawmakers are calling a 2-1 ruling by a panel of the 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court that says reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in schools is an unconstitutional “endorsement of religion” because of the phrase “under God.” It doesn’t matter that one of the judges, Ferdinand Fernandez, disagreed with the majority opinion, telling CNN that such phrases as “under God” or “In God We Trust” have “no tendency to establish religion in this country” except in the eyes of those who “most fervently would like to drive all tincture of religion out of the public life of our polity.” It doesn’t matter that the 9th Circuit placed a hold on the panel’s order until it could be reviewed by the entire court. It doesn’t matter that the 9th Circuit reportedly is “the most overturned appeals court in the country” and is considered to be “the most liberal.” What does matter is that our nation’s unity under God is on trial and the outrage at such a ruling is coming loud and clear from Congress and the White House but, strangely, not from the Presbyterian Church (USA). The silence from Louisville is more than curious since the great commission of the church supposedly is to proclaim God’s gospel for salvation to all mankind. It is a sad commentary on the priorities of our church when secular politicians and this publication, but not the denomination’s leadership, can defend what President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote when he signed the legislation into law in 1954: “Millions of our schoolchildren will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.”

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