New Jersey’s Glenview Elementary School has been told by its district to cease saying “God bless America” after its daily Pledge of Allegiance because of a complaint by the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The school had started the tradition after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The New Jersey ACLU’s Edward Barocas wrote to the Haddon Heights School District that “having elementary school students invoke God’s blessing at the beginning of every school day, during an official school assembly, is unconstitutional.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
Subsequently, Glenview principal Sam Sassano told school families and staff that instead of taking on “a potential constitutional challenge and the accompanying legal fees,” the district administration had decided to discontinue its endorsement of reciting the benediction at the kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school.
On Tuesday, Barocas praised the decision.
“Our Constitution is clear: Schools can’t coerce or impose religion on children,” Barocas said. “It’s the job of parents to decide how and whether to instill religion, not public schools.”
Let’s see … “one Nation, under God …” Why wasn’t the ACLU concerned about that? Oh, right – because courts have pretty much affirmed the phrase’s constitutionality. One appeals court and a state supreme court have said reciting that part of the Pledge is “patriotic” in nature, not religious.
Why wouldn’t “God bless America” similarly be deemed such? Does not the president conclude nationwide addresses with that very statement? Is he acting unconstitutionally?
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