“The criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism.” — Karl Marx
Michael Newdow may be the latest American hero. The California physician stood before the U.S. Supreme Court last month and argued that his 5-year-old daughter should not be pressured into reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at school.
Newdow should be applauded for standing up for his daughter’s constitutional rights. The separation of church and state as embodied in the First Amendment is a vital constitutional concept that should not be sold out to right-wing interests, as it was 50 years ago.
Supporters of the pledge often appeal to tradition to make their case, but few realize the phrase “under God” was added to the pledge in 1954 — 62 years after the pledge was written — in response to Cold War anti-Communist hysteria. The phrase is the result of a disgraceful period in American history that we should stop honoring.
The pledge seeks to enforce conformity of belief, and that concept runs counter to the idea of a nation kept vital by vigorous debate. There is something Orwellian about 30 youths standing up in class and chanting their affirmations of loyalty to the state.
Newdow is an atheist, and he has every right to be concerned about the influence on his daughter of religious beliefs he doesn’t subscribe to. It’s especially ridiculous for a bunch of adults to be telling a 5-year-old what to think when they are most likely wrong.
It’s considered impolite in America to point out the absurdity and foolishness of religious belief. Religion is, and always has been, a rather poor attempt to explain where we came from and to comfort us when we cringe at the thought of mortality.
When we die, our bodies rot in the ground, and within a couple of generations our lives are forgotten. When people can’t handle this truth, they grasp at the straws of the faithful.
They go to a building where a preacher tells them how to think and act. Those who are too weak of conscience to have their own moral code are fed one.
As the brilliant essayist Christopher Hitchens said in an interview, “They say that a first-century execution gives me a reason to live and was conducted so that I wouldn’t have to answer for my actions. I haven’t the faintest idea what it would feel like to believe that. It’s a belief so absurd that it can’t even be justified by its own rationale.”
Religion is an easy way out. Whatever problems exist, you don’t have to worry about them because it’s all part of God’s plan. You can strangle puppies and hack babies to little bits as long as you let God know you believe in him and you’re really, really sorry.
That being said, religion is not entirely malevolent. I admire the role of churches in galvanizing the faithful to help the poor and the hungry, and I bask in the kindness displayed to me by friends who profess a belief in God.
But you can help the poor without a man of the cloth telling you to do so, and you can greet people with a smile and a kind word because it’s the right thing to do.
I am an agnostic because it’s the philosophy of “I don’t know, and you don’t either.” I find it extremely unlikely that God exists, but not impossible. Atheism also is therefore a form of faith that can’t entirely be justified.
Reciting the phrase “under God” implies both a belief in God and that religious belief is a necessary prerequisite for patriotism. That isn’t right.
If you want to believe in God, fine by me. However, the founders of the United States were incredibly wise and forward-thinking in insisting on a secular state, and religious activists need to keep their hands off of it.