New Jersey State Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman ruled yesterday that “Under God” in the United States Pledge of Allegiance “does not violate rights guaranteed to individuals under the New Jersey Constitution.”
Last year, the American Humanist Association filed a lawsuit on behalf of a family claiming that students “acknowledging God” in the Pledge violated the state’s constitution.
Bauman’s written opinion, made public Friday, dismissed a lawsuit filed last year by the American Humanist Association, an organization that works to protect the rights of atheists and other non-religious groups.
In his decision, Bauman noted that the nation was founded on a belief in God. He cited historical references to the nation’s founding fathers, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, and the writers of New Jersey’s constitution exhibiting faith in and reliance upon God.
“The words ‘under God’ are now as interwoven through the fabric of the Pledge of Allegiance as the threads of red, white and blue into the fabric of the flag to which the Pledge is recited,” Bauman wrote.
Bauman said the Pledge of Allegiance, in its historical context, has never been viewed as a religious exercise, but as a vehicle to transmit “those core values of duty, honor, pride and fidelity to country on which the social contract between the United States and its citizens is ultimately based.”
David Niose, the attorney for the AHA, says that the Pledge “is discriminatory if it associates patriotism with God-belief,” and it implies that those who do not believe in God are “second-class citizens.”
The AHA did not say if it plans to appeal.
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