pledge of allegiance

By a two-to-one majority, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco decided Wednesday that those words in the Pledge of Allegiance constitute an official endorsement of Deism — the belief in a single God.
The judge who wrote the opinion, Alfred T. Goodwin, today stayed the ruling, preventing it from being enforced until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court decides whether it wants to alter course.
"In the context of the Pledge, the statement that the United States is a nation "under God" is an endorsement of religion," the court wrote in Wednesday's decision. "It is a profession of a religious belief, namely, a belief in monotheism."
That violates the Constitutional separation between church and state, the court ruled, meaning the Pledge in its current form cannot be recited officially in public schools or government offices.
Reaction among legal experts was mixed, but many predicted the matter would ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Several scholars, such as UCL...