Many atheists and people who are not affiliated with any particular faith support leaving the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. The question over those particular words has come to the forefront recently due to a case in the courts now centering on a high school in New Jersey. An anonymous atheist family is suing the school district to have the words “under God” removed from the pledge because they claim the inclusion of the words discriminates against atheist children. While some atheists may agree, many others feel that the family’s opinion is a bunch of baloney.
A recent poll conducted by the American Humanist Association showed that about one third of Americans want the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. However, out of the respondents who said they were not affiliated with any religion, 38 percent felt that the words should remain. The association also found that 10 percent of people who identified as atheist supported leaving the words in, but the association cautioned that the sample of strongly-identifying atheists was very small-just 41 people. However, even if that number were to hold up with widespread testing, that would mean that hundreds of thousands of Americans who identify as atheist/agnostic support leaving the words “under God” in the pledge, and that is not even counting all those who are simply unaffiliated with any religion.
This is just one limited study, but anecdotally, there are many other examples of atheists who feel that the choice whether or not to say the words “under God” is just that-a choice. They say it is a matter of freedom of speech, and since no one is forced to say the words, those who wish to say them should be able to do so.
They say that leaving the words in the pledge does nothing to discriminate against atheists, who can simply choose not to say them or to abstain from saying the pledge at all. Frank Lovell, who identifies as an atheist, agrees:
I absolutely think whether to SAY or to NOT say “under God” — EITHER WAY — when reciting the American Pledge of Allegiance [PoA] is an exercise of one’s personal choice/individual freedom of speech. Before 1954 when I said the PoA the PoA was two words shorter than it was after 1954 (and remains today). Ever since I became an adult (1961) when I say the PoA I finish two words sooner than (most of) those around me. If the two-word phrase “under God” had never been added to the PoA by Congress, and someone wanted to INclude it when they said the PoA, I would have no problem with their doing that. And I would hope they have no problem with my NOT including those two words…I think whether to OMIT the phrase OR to INCLUDE the phrase when one pledges allegiance — either way — is a matter of exercising one’s personal choice/freedom of speech.
Many atheists and agnostics concur. Allan Campbell, who identifies as an atheist, states “In cases where the pledge itself is a voluntary expression, I don’t see a problem with leaving it in.” He goes on to state that in any instance where the pledge is coerced, though, then it is not acceptable to have the words included. Of course, there are many who strongly believe that the words should not be there at all. Several large atheist organizations are actively campaigning to have the words “under God” removed from the pledge.
Still others feel that there is a distinction between the official, legal, government sponsored version and what people can and cannot say while they are reciting it. Atheist Belle Severo explains: “No one is trying to stop anyone from saying whatever they want to say. But there is a difference between letting people say whatever they want and having the government endorse it. Legally speaking “Under God” should not officially be present in the Pledge of Allegiance. The legality of it does not stop people from adding in their own words - but we should not have the government endorsing religion, period. The OFFICIAL version need not have it.”
Atheists’ opinions about the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance are as diverse as atheists themselves. Many support leaving the words in, while others state that people can say whatever they want to say, yet the words should not be included in the official version.
