The Pledge of Allegiance is recited in classrooms across the country every morning — and because of the words "under God," it is heard in courtrooms across the country seemingly just as often these days.
Every attempt to eliminate the mention of God has thus far failed, but the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts will hear arguments on Wednesday seeking removal of the two words for a new reason: discrimination.
As atheists on the internet are quick to point out, "under God" didn't exist in the Pledge of Allegiance for the first fifty years of its existence; those words were added in the 1950s by our most go-along-to-get-along-iest of presidents, Dwight Eisenhower. In any case, expect Fox News to start frothing at the mouth any minute now about two words in a memorized spiel that most Americans don't ever really think about. I imagine it'll be used as an example of the decline of American civilization and a bunch of white people in business clothing will be very upset—shocked, even—over it. I can hardly wait for this conversation to overtake the 24-hour news cycle. I bet there'll be some real quality discourse.
