Court ruling on pledge was absolutely right

To the editor:

I saw U.S. Reps. Nita Lowey of New York and Frank Wolf of Virginia on CNN's "Crossfire," and I am outraged at their gutless kowtow to that element of the body politic that feels it has the right to impute, unasked, to everybody in this nation a belief in, and a subordination to, God. The U.S. court that made the ruling that the phrase "under God" rendered the Pledge of Allegiance an unconstitutional endorsement of religion was absolutely right.

Congress' action in 1954 in adding the phrase, thereby defining everyone's philosophy, was no more and no less than the institutionalization of a bald-faced lie. Before 1954 the pledge was neutral on the question of the existence and supremacy of God and was in no way antithetical to those concepts. It would never have occurred to me to add the phrase "definitely not under God" because, while the phrase holds true for me, I realize that it is not the truth for all of my fellow citizens. The difference between me and God-believers is that I consider it wholly inappropriate for me to presume to speak for others on matters philosophical. God-believers, on the other hand, will misrepresent my views at the drop of a hat. If it shows nothing else, the 1954 action of Congress shows that.

DONN S. MILLER

Tamms, Ill.