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March 19, 2004/Adar 26 5764, Vol. 56, No. 26
Jews give nod to 'under God'
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - When the words "under God" were first uttered in an American political context, the issue was not a question of church and state, but Christian and Jew.
Abraham Lincoln used the term "under God" at the end of his Gettysburg Address on Nov. 19, 1863, to describe the American nation and the new "birth of freedom" he en-visioned as the lasting effect of the Civil War.
Back then, Jews welcomed the term as a sign that they were being included in what many saw as a Christian society, said Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis Uni-versity.
Now, with the U.S. Supreme Court poised to address next week whether a teacher-led Pledge of Allegiance in school is constitutional because of the reference to God, the Jews' historic take on this seemingly common phrase in American public life has become relevant.
It also helps explain why most Jews are not opposed to the pledge.
The case, Elk Grove School District v. Newdow, which the court is scheduled to hear March 24, stems from a legal challenge brought by a California father, Michael Newdow, who was born Jewish but is an avowed atheist.
He sued the Sacramento-area school district on behalf of his daughter, arguing that the Pledge of Allegiance said in school was a violation of her constitutional rights.
The term "under God" was added by Congress to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 at the insistence of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization.
Sarna said the Jewish community at the time did not fight the addition of the phrase, because of concerns of being viewed on the side of Soviet atheists in the Cold War era.
Liberal Jewish groups, generally quick to weigh in on church-state issues, have remained relatively quiet on the current Pledge of Alle-giance issue, viewing this type of what they call "ceremonial deism" as harmless.
For it's part, the Anti-Defamation League has reversed its view on the issue - and now stands virtually alone in the organized Jewish community in challenging the phrase.
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