Just in time for this week's Fourth of July celebration, a federal appeals court in San Francisco exercised their unalienable rights, endowed by their Creator, and declared that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional because it contains the phrase, [one nation] "under God."

That noise you hear in the background is Thomas Jefferson rolling in his grave. He and the other signers of the Declaration of Independence staked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" when they met that day in Philadelphia in 1776.

President Bush immediately issued a statement expressing his outrage over the ruling, calling it "ridiculous." Congress had similar sentiments, and many members of the House of Representatives staged a protest outside the Capitol building, where they recited the pledge and sang "God bless America."

Some legal scholars say the ruling will likely either be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court or reversed by the full Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, an event which now seems likely since Circuit Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, the author of the 2-1 opinion, stayed his own ruling until fellow members of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decide whether to reconsider the case.

Had the ruling stood, children in the public schools in nine western states would have been forbidden to recite what has been a daily ritual for the last 50 years or so.

Now really, which religion does the phrase "one nation under God" establish? Last time I checked, every religion had at least one god. The only 'religion' with no God is atheism, and, yes, atheism is an official religion despite what every fiber of your being is screaming to the contrary.

If we distill the court's ruling down to its essence, it's like many of the final scores in this year's World Cup soccer matches: Atheists 1, Everyone Else 0.

That's what this is really all about: getting rid of God in America, period. But this is the antithesis of what the Founding Fathers envisioned for this country. All the other rhetoric you hear, such as the ruling making the Constitution stronger, is intellectually and historically bankrupt.

David Barton, the founder and President of "Wall Builders," a national pro-family organization, explains about the original intent of the Founding Fathers. "John Adams believed that the Fourth of July should become a religious holiday, a day when we remember God's hand in deliverance and a day of religious activities when we commit ourselves to Him in 'solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.' Such was the spirit of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of those who led it. . . ."

The role of the judicial branch of our government is not to legislate. It is to ensure that the laws of the United States of America reflect not necessarily the will of the people, but the rule of law. We are a nation of laws, not a nation of men; a constitutional republic, not a democracy where
the majority rules.

Having said that, it is abundantly clear from even a cursory study of American history that the framers' original intent was for the United States of America to be a country where religious freedom would be the capstone of its form of government. They believed the words of the Psalmist who wrote, "Blessed is the nation, whose God is the LORD." It is no surprise that the free exercise clause was placed prominently in the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law...prohibiting the free exercise [of religion]."

Barton adds, "Have you ever considered what it meant for those 56 men, an eclectic group of ministers, business men, teachers, university professors, sailors, captains, farmers, to sign the Declaration of Independence? This was a contract that began with the reasons for the separation from Great Britain and closed in the final paragraph stating, 'And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor'".

Many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence that day in Philadelphia in 1776 lost their lives and their fortunes in the war that followed.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com. Visit our website at www.amyfound.org.