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November 9, 2009

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Letter: Pledge is clearly unconstitutional

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 8:51 a.m.

As it stands today the Pledge of Allegiance is a government-mandated religious pledge and, as such, should be ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

For more than 60 years the pledge was merely a simple, secular, patriotic pledge until misguided religionists, part of the McCarthy era, lobbied Congress to add the religious phrase.

Anyone who started school before the mid-1950s learned a secular, unobjectionable pledge. For us to omit "under God" now would merely return the pledge to its original, secular form.

Every day in this country students who do not wish to repeat a religious pledge are being singled out for criticism, even ostracism, by teachers and classmates. This discrimination would not occur if our courts would observe the separation of religion and government.

ANNE NICOL GAYLOR

Editor's note: The writer is president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation based in Madison, Wis.

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