The Pledge of Allegiance and the National Motto (In God We Trust) are religious in nature and thus unconstitutional. They are also dismissive of the service of atheist patriots who established and have defended this nation. The insertion in the 1950s of religion into the motto and pledge represent a dark time in our nation when our secular founders were scorned in favor of the Red Scare of Fascist McCarthyism.
The motto “In God We Trust” is the US National Motto and found on US Currency. This is an unconstitutional preference of religion over non-religion. Before “In God We Trust” was the motto, our founding fathers chose “E Pluribus Unum”: out of many one, a motto celebrating our cultural diversity and national unity. This is a motto the entire nation can support, and we advocate re-instituting it on our currency and as our official national motto.
In 1954, the Knights of Columbus, a religious organization, convinced the federal government to add the words “Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. This represents an unconstitutional preference of religion over non-religion. We advocate removing these two divisive words from our Pledge.
As long as the words “Under God” remain in the Pledge, its recitation in schools causes secular students to feel excluded and presents the appearance that the government, through its school systems and teachers, promotes religion. As soon as the words “Under God” are removed from the Pledge, it reverts to its original status as a motivational and patriotic expression of the commitment of citizens to the US Government and its values, and citizens everywhere should recite it regularly, especially while benefiting from government-provided services.