With a federal judge recently having ruled that a federal declaration of the National Day of Prayer was unconstitutional, it was anybody’s guess how another court might rule on an atheist’s attempt to have the word “God” removed from the presidential oath of office.
Fortunately, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia turned down atheist Michael Newdow’s demand that the reference to God be erased from the oath.
Dr. Newdow, a physician, has also failed in his legal crusade against the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency.
The various federal courts that have heard these cases have given both constitutional and technical reasons for ruling against Dr. Newdow. But whatever their reasoning in an individual case, the Constitution was clearly not written to forbid public expressions of faith by ordinary citizens or elected officials. The First Amendment rightly forbids the establishment of a state religion, but it does not bar free, non-coercive expressions of faith and acknowledgments of the religious heritage that shaped our country.
It is a relief that the court recognized that principle in upholding the use of the word “God” in the presidential oath of office.