The Pledge:

Regarding the Pledge case that the Supreme Court just heard, I think the only plausible ground that can be made that “under God” is perfectly consistent with the Establishment Clause is that the reference reflects “ceremonial deism,” which is, for all practical purposes, a secular reference to God. "Nature’s God," referred to in the Declaration was an example of ceremonial deism, as was the invocation of “Almighty God,” in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Our public institutions are secular; this is what it means to live in a (small l) liberal state. Therefore, if I believed that “under God,” was an affirmation of our Christian heritage, I’d argue that it should be scrapped.