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Just another Opinion
By Alan Hood | August 2, 2007
In my opinion the single most important part of the constitution of the United States of America is the First Amendment. The greatest strength of the constitution is its ability to adapt over time, but the one part that should be left alone is the first amendment. These excerpts from the ruling have strong emotional impact on anyone who reads them. The issue in these excerpts is whether or not children should be allowed to recite the Pledge of Allegiance (as it is written today) in schools; however this issue has an underlying issue of whether or not the government should be involved in matters of religion. The men who wrote the Constitution of the United States were some of the most thoughtful and brilliant people who have ever walked the earth. What or forefathers knew to be true then, still holds true today, Government should play no active role in the private religious beliefs of its citizens.
The Pledge of Allegiance has changed over time just like the Constitution has, and it is time for it to change again. The last change made to the Pledge of Allegiance was made after pressure from the Knights of Columbus to add the words under god. If congress had thought it through then the change would not have been made. If the current congress were obliged to study the Constitution they would insist that the words “under god” be taken out of the pledge. Unfortunately, congress is made up of politicians and not people who have the ability to look at issues beyond their political lines, and do what is best for our country. Differences of opinion and dissent have always had a place in our society, another freedom granted by the first amendment. When it comes to our freedoms granted by the Constitution our leaders should have the ability to put their personal interest and feelings aside and make decisions that will benefit ALL Americans in the future.
While I do believe that this State Supreme court did come to the correct conclusion I do not agree with some of the inflammatory language used in both the opinion and dissent. The use of the word inculcate in the opinion is almost to suggest that our children are being brainwashed by the pledge. The use of language that can be open to interpretation in an opinion should be omitted. When a supreme court makes a ruling, that ruling should be clear and concise, not left open to the possibility of misinterpretation by those reading the opinion. In the same way, the use of the word picayune in the dissent shows the contempt the author had for the majority ruling and should be removed. While Judge Fernandez may not have been happy with the ruling he does still acknowledge that the use of the words “under god” do present a danger to our First Amendment rights even if he does call that danger picayune. I would have to say that any danger at all would not be picayune.
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