Even for the oft-reversed 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the notorious pledge-of-allegiance ruling was an abomination. “Under God” does not mean the same as “under Jesus” or “under Allah” or “under Madalyn Murray O’Hair.” It’s an acknowledgment of an Almighty, however referenced.
It means under a higher power. Imagine that being under fire? How’s that for a sectarian reach?
How, by all that passes for jurisprudence in the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit, can “under God” be construed as a violation of the First Amendment prohibition against the establishment of a state religion?
This travesty of a ruling likely won’t stand, and even the reviled Judge Alfred Goodwin is backing off. But the fact that it happened at all is disturbing and disgraceful. That it happened with this nation under attack by those who decree us “infidels” is obscenely ironic. It’s never been more important for Americans to look inward to inventory and revisit our values and beliefs.
Regrettably, “One nation, under litigation” would be all too appropriate. Tragically, one nation, undermined, could result.