Blog 7: Position Paper Annotated Bibliography

For my position paper on the necessity to remove the words "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, I researched and quoted elements from the following sites and articles:

"Freedom of Religion, Establishment Clause." Great American Court Cases. 4 vols. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. < http://galenet.galegroup.com.prox.miracosta.edu/servlet/HistRC/ >

This is a presentation of the Establishment Clasue of the Constitution in its historical context, along with the development of separation concepts by the Supreme Court in landmark cases throughout the twentieth century, especially related to issues of religion in the public classroom.

Bonta, Steve. "'Under God' Should Remain in the Pledge of Allegiance." Opposing Viewpoints: Religion in America. Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. 11 July 2009. < http://find.galegroup.com.prox.
miracosta.edu/ovrc/infomark.do&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID
=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010231251&source=gale&srcprod
=OVRC&userGroupName=ocea63505&version=1.0 >

Steve Bonta makes his case for preserving the current version of the Pledge of Allegiance as a testimony to the way Americans want to perceive their country, and as a reflection of the founding Christian values that have led America to greatness and are necessary to maintain true democracy.

“The US Pledge of Allegiance.” Religious Tolerance. 30 November 2008. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 11 July 2009. < http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_pled1.htm >

This overview of the Pledge of Allegiance and related matters provides a brief history of the pledge as well as statistics regarding Americans' perception of the text, and possible future changes as suggested by various interest groups or individuals.

al., Part I: Americans United for Separation of Church and State et al.; Part II: Nebraska Zen Center et. "'Under God' Should Be Removed from the Pledge of Allegiance." Opposing Viewpoints: Religion in America. Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. 11 July 2009 < http://find.galegroup.com.prox.
miracosta.edu/ovrc/infomark.do&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID
=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010231250&source=gale&srcprod
=OVRC&userGroupName=ocea63505&version=1.0 >

This two-part document was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court as amici curiae ("friends of the court") briefs in the case of Newdow v. U.S. Congress et al. In Part I Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union maintain that the Pledge pressures schoolchildren to profess religious belief, which violates the Constitution's clause against government endorsement of religion. In Part II a group representing over 3 million Buddhist Americans argues that the Pledge is incompatible with Buddhism because it expresses a belief in monotheism.

“One Nation Under God.” New York Times. 27 June 2002. 11 July 2009. < http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/27/opinion/27THU2.html >

This opinion piece describes how the recent case against recitation of the Pledge in public elementary schools, a harmless tradition, is trivializing the debate over separation of church and state.