The Knights of Columbus, who successfully lobbied for the words “under God” to be added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, have asked the highest court in the nation to decide whether the phrase makes the pledge unconstitutional. The New Haven, Conn.-based Catholic fraternal organization urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn last year’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that the phrase “under God” violated separation of church and state.
In 1951, the Knights of Columbus ordered members to add the words “under God” when reciting the pledge.
A year later, the Knights recommended the change to Washington, and in 1954 Congress approved the addition.
The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear the case. In it, a three-judge panel in San Francisco ruled that the pledge “impermissibly takes a position with respect to the purely religious question of the existence and identity of God.”
(RNS)
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