The American Humanist Association is suing Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District on behalf of an anonymous family from Monmouth County. The family claims the school is discriminating against non-believers.
BY Carol Kuruvilla
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 2:44 PM
Fuse/Getty Images/Fuse
The words 'under God' were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, as part of a McCarthy-era tactic to combat communism.
A New Jersey school district is under fire for pledging allegiance “under God.”
A family in Monmouth County lashed out against the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District with a lawsuit on Monday, claiming that asking children to recite the words “under God” during the Pledge of Allegiance is tantamount to discrimination.
“The exercise instills in children the idea that true patriots are god-believers and those who don’t believe are a second-class of citizens,” David Niose, legal director for the American Humanist Association, told The News.
The Washington, D.C.-based organization filed the lawsuit on behalf of a family, who wished to remain anonymous. Niose said the student involved in the case attends Matawan-Aberdeen schools. But he refused to reveal the student’s gender or grade, claiming that atheists who speak out in this manner are often “subjected to great hostility.”
New Jersey state law requires students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every school day. The phrase “under God” is in the full text mandated by state law, but it wasn’t a part of the original Pledge of Allegiance. The religious reference is in fact a relic of the McCarthy era. The words were added to the Pledge in 1954 to combat the threat of godless Communism.
Students who have “conscientious scruples” do not have to salute or say the Pledge, but they are required to show respect for the flag by standing.
Niose says the option of not participating is not the right solution.
“If the pledge said, ‘One nation under Jesus,’ I imagine that Jews, Muslims and Hindus would feel quite excluded,” he said. “There is an element of stigmatization when the school is conducting an exercise that defines patriotism in a way that excludes your particular worldview.”
If the pledge said, ‘One nation under Jesus,’ I imagine that Jews, Muslims and Hindus would feel quite excluded.
The AHA is hoping that the courts will find that the current form of the Pledge of Allegiance violates New Jersey's constitution because it discriminates against people of no faith. After that first step, the organization suggests that the school can revert to the original Pledge or find another way for students to show patriotism.
A similar AHA-sponsored lawsuit is currently before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
In a statement released to The News, Matawan-Aberdeen schools accused the national organization of unfairly targeting their district for following a state mandate.
“Instead of directing their arguments to the State, which has imposed this statutory requirement on all 590 school districts throughout New Jersey, they are forcing one district to divert time, energy and resources from the education of its students to defend this case,” the statement said.
In the past, opponents have attempted to attack the Pledge on the basis of the First Amendment, which forbids Congress from making laws that establish a state religion. But this recent lawsuit suggests a shift in tactics and a move toward the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
It’s the same constitutional right that allowed African-Americans and women to make important strides toward equality during the 20th century.
“For some reason, instead of looking at the pool that everyone else uses to defend their rights, atheists and humanists have resorted to the establishment clause,” Niose said. “But whenever any minority has asserted rights, they’ve done so through equal protection. It’s time to use it — in fact, it’s long overdue.”
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