Press Release

Rights of Humanist School Children Up for Grabs in Court Case on Pledge of Allegiance

For Immediate Release - Contact: Roy Speckhardt at (202) 238-9088

(Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004) Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the controversial case to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Plaintiff Michael Newdow insisted that it is unconstitutional for children attending public schools to be led in recitations of a Pledge that invokes religion.

"Whatever the Court does in this case will decide whether or not Humanists are to be regarded as second-class citizens," says Mel Lipman, President of the American Humanist Association, whose members are among those most affected by this case.

AHA executive director Tony Hileman concurred, "This is one of the biggest moments for Humanists, who have been fighting government endorsement of religion for decades." The AHA submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Newdow that emphasizes how the current Pledge imposes a religious belief on those without such beliefs. "The First Amendment does not require hostility toward religion but mandates government neutrality toward religion," explains Hileman.

As stated in the AHA's brief, and reinforced today by Newdow, the Pledge, "indeed brings religion into the public school classroom in an intimidating fashion. Students who are singled out due to their inability to pledge allegiance to their country will be disfavored over those who support the majority religious belief in our society: monotheism." Newdow argues that reciting the Pledge is not a passive reading of a historic document but an active, daily swearing of loyalty to one's country and, since 1954, this oath requires an avowal of the existence of a single God and that our nation is subservient to that God.

During the oral arguments, which debated both the issue of standing and the merits of "under God" in the Pledge, Chief Justice Rehnquist admonished people in the courtroom for applauding Newdow's assertion that the 1954 Congress voted to include "under God" in the Pledge for political reasons.

"It is difficult to predict the outcome," said Hileman, "yet the Supreme Court hasn't specifically permitted the endorsement of religion in public schools in over fifty years-the Court must recognize that 'under God' is not the language of patriotic ceremony but rather governmental endorsement of sectarian religion."

The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive nontheistic outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity .

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