Michael Newdow, the atheist who has been fighting for years to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, is now representing a New Hampshire couple in a similar suit.
The anonymous couple sued a Hanover school district last week for leading their children in reciting the Pledge.
Although a 2002 state law says student participation is voluntary, the suit maintains that by including "under God," the district is endorsing the religious notion that God exists, creating a "societal environment where prejudice against atheists … is perpetuated."
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the courts have continued to uphold the values upon which America was founded despite numerous attempts by Newdow to remove God from the Pledge.
"These types of lawsuits, however frivolous, do have one redeeming quality: They focus us back to the truth that this country was founded by men and women who believed in God and acknowledged that He created us with certain unalienable rights that government was designed to secure," he said. "The Supreme Court has noted several times over the last two centuries that there is nothing constitutionally wrong with acknowledging that fact in a public setting."
