Just over 60 years after “under God” was added to our Pledge of Allegiance, the Honorable David F. Bauman, P.J.S.C., recently held that reciting this pledge “is a secular, not a religious activity and, thus, a constitutionally-protected activity.” For this reason, the court properly dismissed a complaint that alleged that requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance denied plaintiff atheists equal protection rights under New Jersey’s Constitution.American Humanist Association v. Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District, decided Feb. 4, 2015.
In so deciding, the court astutely observed how, historically, continual references to God “has never been viewed as a religious exercise,” but rather “a faith in, and a reliance and even dependency upon God to help secure the blessings of liberties and freedom attendant upon good governance.” Indeed, as the court pointed out, over 230 years ago our first president made it “his earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the state over which you preside, in His holy protection.” For this reason, President Washington, when inaugurated, felt compelled to add to his oath the impromptu “so help me God.”
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