Arrogance of Power

By Michael F. Flach
Herald Editor
(From the issue of 7/4/02)

A week before our country was scheduled to celebrate its independence, the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California acted in what some critics called "an extreme arrogance of power" by declaring the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional because it constitutes governmental endorsement of religion.

When Senator Rick Santorum announced the news of this decision to a gathering of Catholics at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington last week, there was an incredulous chuckle from the crowd, as if the Senator was joking.

Unfortunately, the Court’s decision is no laughing matter.

"If this poor decision is allowed to stand, schoolchildren in the nine Western states covered by this circuit may be prevented from reciting the Pledge in spite of what their parents want and over the expressed will of the U.S. Congress and established legal precedent since 1954," said Deacon Keith A. Fournier, founder and president of "Common Good."

"What is worse is that the hostility toward religious expression that was on its way to the dust heap of history may re-emerge as a threat to authentic freedom at the very time in our national history when we so desperately need the help of God," Fournier said.

William Donahue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said it makes no sense to debate this issue.

The Establishment Clause was written by James Madison to prohibit government from encroaching on religion, Donahue said. "It was not written to obliterate every religious vestige of our cultural traditions simply because some are hostile to our heritage."

Fournier concurred, saying that the Establishment Clause, which protects free speech, free association, and the free exercise of religion, "was never intended to prevent the citizenry from expressing reliance upon God. It was intended to prevent the establishment of a national religion."

"This eloquent and hallowed phrase (the Pledge of Allegiance), added in 1954 through legislation enacted by Congress and signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, is part of our national treasury and heritage," Fournier said. "It is also a shining beacon to many throughout the world who long to be free. Left to stand, such a hostile approach as found in this court opinion could lead to prohibitions against patriotic songs such as 'God Bless America' and 'America the Beautiful'."

Instead of debate, Donahue is encouraging civil disobedience.

"We need teachers all over the nation to lead their students in the Pledge," he said. "But before doing so, the teachers need to contact both the police and the media. It is vitally important that everyone watch on television the teachers being taken away in handcuffs for saying the Pledge of Allegiance. This will expose who the real authoritarians are and thus set the stage for a reversal of this madness.

"Students can wear T-shirts with obscenities on them and they can practice simulated sex on stage in a school play, but they can’t say the Pledge. That’s pushing the envelope too far," said Donahue.

Fournier, a deacon in the Diocese of Richmond, said the 9th Circuit is the most overturned appeals court in the country. He is confident that the decision will not stand. Indeed, one of two judges who agreed that the Pledge is unconstitutional issued a stay on the ruling June 27 pending appeal.

Let’s hope, for the sake of our children and the future religious freedom of our country, that Fournier is right.— M.F.F.

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