Freedom from religion as vital as freedom of religion

When the Ninth Circuit Court banned the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, I stopped saying them at the Senior Center where we say the "pledge" before eating lunch. While I have no ill-will toward the religious idea of God, the subject has caused me a lot of confusion, guilt and inner turmoil throughout most of my adult life, which led to a lot of soul searching that finally brought about an understanding of "creation" that makes sense to me, and I now have some peace of mind.

As far as I know, my new belief system does not interfere with my family, friends, neighbors or any of my community involvements, and even though some people may not like or understand me and my beliefs, as long as we maintain a little tolerance for each other and some respect of the law, then we can all pursue what we perceive to be our own best interest, which is the basic premise of our constitution.

Up until the decision of the court, I recited the pledge much the way I used to "pray" the Hail Mary when I was in parochial school, but omitting the words "under God" has impelled me to pay more attention to the meaning of the pledge, with the result that I now realize it is America's cultural institutions that provide most of the "blessings" we attribute to a benevolent God. It is America's laws, customs, education system, economy, etc. that give us the ways and means to pursue and enjoy our life and liberty, and I also realized it wasn't God, it was human beings who established this country, and that America is dedicated to her people, while religion is dedicated to God.

While it is obvious that Christian principles are an effective guide for personal behavior, the combination of religion and politics is what drove many Europeans to seek religious freedom in America. The knowledge and memory of European religious intolerance is what prompted our Founding Fathers to include the doctrine of separation between church and state in our constitution. Freedom of religion, as well as freedom from religion, is equally important to the spirit of America. However, because of our treatment of the native people and certain emigrant groups, as well as our early history of slavery, I am not always 100 percent proud of my heritage, but I am always 100 percent appreciative. America is not perfect, but neither is religion and even life itself is unfair from a human point of view, but nevertheless, whether we call it good fortune or the blessings of God, we can all agree that it is good to be an American.

My recent short silences while saying the pledge at the Senior Center has revealed a difference between me and certain other members of the group who now emphasize the words "under God" with extra clarity and volume. While diversity of opinion, such as my omission of "under God" and their emphasis of it, is good for America, our differences should not be expressed while saying the pledge. We should keep in mind that we are pledging allegiance only to our country and not to our many alliances or commitments. As Americans we are united under one flag, even though we may be divided in many other respects.

Evidently, God and country are one and the same thing to many Americans, but some troubled souls, like myself, were prodded by conscience or curiosity to seek a deeper understanding of things. In my own mind I have managed to separate God from country but I am not less patriotic because of it, and while I cannot speak for others, I now think of America as being "one nation, of good spirit, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

As I see it, my replacement phrase "of good spirit" offers a truer description of America than does the phrase "under God." That latter assumes that the destiny of America is ordained by God, whereas "of good spirit" only implies that America has an inner quality of goodness, which is expressed through the spirit of her people. In other words, our country's destiny depends on the American people, and as long as we are "of good spirit" the continued advancement of our way of life remains a real possibility.

Art Carney is a Wasilla resident.