Argumentative Essay On Freedom Of Religion

In the first amendment, it is stated that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the exercise thereof.”. From this, it made clear that the founding fathers’ original intent was for the Government to take a neutral position with respect to religion; the Government was not to favor any one religion over another. “Almighty God we acknowledge our independence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parent, our teachers and our Country. Amen.” In 1951, that prayer was conducted in class every morning in all New York public schools as ordered by New York State Board of Regents; it was called a “nondenominational prayer”. The short prayer was created with the intent of developing students’ moral

Throughout America there are many religions that vary in each one of the fifty states. For example, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, and Jewish, etc. They all believe in something different from the other. Christians believe in God, Muslims believe in Allah, and Atheists believe in nothing. In the Pledge of Allegiance, it states “under god”. That should mean that those who do not believe in God, should not be obliged to stand during the allegiance. However, as more Muslims and Atheists are refusing to, Americans are labeling it as disrespect

I do not believe that the expression “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance changes over its presentation into a religious activity. Instead, it is an announcement of confidence in faithfulness and unwaveringness to the United States banner and the Republic that it speaks to. The expression “under God” is in no sense a supplication, nor support of any religion. Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, or listening to others recount it, is an enthusiastic activity, not a religious one; members guarantee devotion to our banner and our Nation, not to a specific God, confidence, or

This has become a very controversial topic these days because of one line in the pledge, “under God” This is a “questionable religious reference” (Tucker 1). “Congress and President Eisenhower add “under God” to the pledge” (Tucker 4) in 1954, this is completely unnecessary because it brings religion into the pledge of the country and some groups of people do not believe in god, yet they are being forced to say excluding California. Such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, a group of people that do not believe in serving the country, but believe in serving god. Ultimately, our counties schools should not be obliged to recite this pledge. It is “outdated and unnecessary” (Tucker 1). Using California as an example, it does not affect the performance of students, but does affect

(Harrison, Maureen. Gilbert, Steve. Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court II.) The public schools systems are not trying to offend anyone. They are trying to uphold the system of educating American students. The views of a few people should not influence the greater good of the Pledge of Allegiance. It has been recited for many years and for many years people have fought against it. People are not fighting against the statement “In God We Trust” that is imprinted on each and every coin in the United States. There is no need to change the Pledge it is there for Americans to recite to show their appreciation to a grateful nation and as a way of saluting the American Flag. Mudhillun Muqaribu wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times titled God and the Pledge: My Brother’s Quest. Mudhillun writes that he is a Muslim who grew up in America. When he was younger, other students made it clear to him and his siblings that “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance did not apply to them. He says that he began sitting out of the Pledge in the sixth grade. The main point of his letter was to applaud Michael Newdow for upholding religious diversity in America. (Muqaribu, Mudhillun. Letter. New York Times). Mudhillun was not persecuted by anyone for his decision in sitting out in the Pledge; it was his decision and he was respected for that. Michael Newdow and the others who argue against “Under God” in the Pledge have the right

President Obama sat down with the President of Turkey and told him “We have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values” (White House Press Release). Although the United States has a large Christian following we also have many religions within our culture; with an ongoing conflict against citizens that are nonreligious, Atheist, Agnostic, etcetera. The two words that were added to the Pledge of Allegiance proves the favoring of religion in a secular government. Even though the pledge does have a loyalty amongst the majority of citizens, we should remove the

Take a moment to recall some of the patriotic symbols that help embody the spirit of our nation: the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty, or even the national anthem. Among others promoting the civic duties and democratic virtues prized by our American society, nothing has caused as much controversy as the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. At the start of a new school day, every classroom of a government run school would be ringing with the chorus of America’s youth delivering the pledge in an almost autonomous way. The reason why this is such a big deal is due to the fact that to some, including myself, believe the words “under God” suggests a breach of the first amendment. As of late, our country has been in the

A controversial issue I’ve seen pop up within the past few years, is that of the pledge of allegiance being said in classes. As with prayer in schools, the issue that people have is that they claim it is unconstitutional as the phrase “under god” violates the first amendment right to freedom of religion. The opposing view point argues that it is disrespectful and unpatriotic to not say the pledge, as people have died to protect us. Another point made against the view that it violates the first amendment, is that it only states “under god” not pointing to one specific religion. This debate has been going on since the early 2000’s. several appeals have been filed to the supreme court as seen in Newdow v. U.S. congress. Where Michael Newdow tried

The Founding Fathers created this country on the concept of separation of church and state; the line “under God” is found in, however, implies that America is one nation kept together by the will of God, which does not uphold the Fathers’ principles. The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause prevents the government from making any laws that hold one religion over another (Procon.org). Based on this clause, the Pledge should not have been able to have “under God” added to it, so it is only rational that the phrase is removed. Though at least 80% of Americans support keeping it in the Pledge, one of the key components of American democracy is upholding the rights of the minority as well as the majority (DemocracyWeb.org). As shown, the will of 80% of Americans, who are presumably Christian, should not be able to silence the will of the other 20%, especially considering all people are supposed to recite the

All throughout the United States, people recite the pledge of allegiance but what they do not see is that the nation was not exactly built on religion itself. American Evangelicals hold a strong belief that the United States was formed through traditional Christian ideals and look to the invocation of God's words in pieces of government. After all, with words like "God and "our creator," one may assume that traditional Christian values were upheld in the creation of the United States political system. However, because of the Enlightenment movement, roughly most of the founding fathers were not practicing Christians. The founding fathers often dabbled in skepticism of theocratic dogma and stood for religious toleration. America's founding fathers were influenced by a kind of

One third of the founding fathers, even George Washington himself, were not even christian; why should “Under God” be in the Pledge of Allegiance. Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli states “...United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,” so why is “Under God” in the pledge of allegiance? No religion is ever mentioned in the constitution, so why is “Under God” in the pledge of allegiance? In the 2004 case, Elk Grove Unified School District v. NewDow the supreme court ruled “ The Pledge is 'consistent with the proposition that government may not communicate an endorsement of religious belief.” So why should “Under God” be in the pledge of allegiance? It should not and there are no reasons it should

Many people ask if we should keep “under god” in the pledge of allegiance. We should keep it in there because it has been in there since the pledge was ever invented, It is a national symbol for American society. The pledge of allegiance has nothing to do with church or state. It is a patriotic saying to show our loyalty to our country and show support to our troops. If it wasn't for the pledge of allegiance this country would have nothing to stand up for. I feel that if it offends people to say the pledge the way it was written then they shouldn’t say it at all. If they have a problem with the way our pledge is written they don’t have to say it at all. The pledge is being said less and

According to a Gallup poll 89% of Americans believe in God. If we take this out of the pledge then 89% percent of Americans will be impacted in a negative way. Secondly, almost all of the United States presidents have been Christian and do believe that this nation is a nation under God. If a large majority of the citizens and leader of the United States of America are Christian or believe in some God then how does it make sense to take the words that show this out of our pledge? It is definitely not a great choice to take the words “Under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1892, the pledge was written by Francis Bellamy. It wasn’t until 1954 that the phrase “under God” was added to our Pledge when the world was facing the struggle over Communism. When the United States Supreme Court case of the West Virginia State board of Education v. Barnette ruled, “Children should not be required to say the Pledge against their free will.” U.S. citizens should not be forced to acknowledge god, the US should remove “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.

Originally the Pledge of Allegiance did not carry the words “under God”. “The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an oath of loyalty to the national flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892. The Pledge has been modified four times since then, with the most recent change adding the words "under God" in 1954” (Wikipedia). Additions to any thing are always made to make things better. No one makes an addition to something so important that it is stated everyday at every school, before every sports event, even before some ceremonies with the intent of defiling it; they make an addition only to perfect and complete it.