Dear Adrienne and Lance,

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This is the Pledge of Allegiance, which a federal appeals court recently ruled unconstitutional because of two words: “under God.”

I'm pleased that students at both of your schools recite the pledge each morning. They also pray. They can do that because you attend private schools where religion is a vital part of the curriculum. And contrary to what a particular group of California jurists may think, it would have been fine to the folks who wrote our Constitution.

There has been much revision of history in order to determine what should not be constitutional. A strange collection of judges, activists, atheists and general troublemakers has worked long and hard to try to establish the concept that anything that hints of God or religion has no place in a public institution. Our Founding Fathers would be appalled.

The brave souls who gave us the Declaration of Independence and later wrote the Constitution were overwhelmingly God-fearing men of religious faith. The declaration mentions God, creator, divine providence and sacred honor. And the oft-cited First Amendment to the Constitution isn't about prohibiting religion but enabling religious practice: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Letters to My Children

In other words, the framers of the Bill of Rights weren't trying to stifle religion; they were trying to nurture it.

We Americans fought for our freedom. We determined to be a democratic republic, not government by a king. That didn't mean there should be no law.

We determined there would be no state-mandated religion. That didn't mean our people should reject their faith in God.

Some tortured legal arguments and judicial decisions that ignore the clear direction of our Founding Fathers have combined to make the public practice of religion an endangered species. You've read the bizarre stories of teachers in public schools getting in trouble for wearing a crucifix, students giving graduation speeches being silenced when giving thanks to God or a public official bearing a reprimand for putting a Christmas wreath on his office door.

Gen. George Washington didn't lead his ragged band through the frigid winters at Valley Forge and Morristown so that God would be kept out of our lives. On the contrary: Many men died so we would be free to welcome the Lord into our hearts.

It is amazing that two little words — “under God” — could cause so much trouble. Of course, despite the brevity of the pledge, there are other words that some folks probably find controversial: allegiance … united … republic … one nation… indivisible … liberty … justice … for all. Yep, there probably is something here to offend everyone.

But I hope we have the courage and common sense to pledge that our nation is “under God” as opposed to whatever option someone could come up with, including the nation being under nothing whatsoever. As the Holy Father said during his recent trip to Poland, “Frequently man lives as if God did not exist, and even puts himself in God's place.” I expect there are lots of folks who would like the pledge to read “one nation under me.”

Jim Fair writes from Chicago.