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"There is a reason behind the movement to strike the words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance -- and from our national customs, and our currency, and our public ceremonies. It has very little to do with atheism. It has a great deal to do with authoritarianism....They [the radical Left] abhor the words 'under God' because these words stand in the way of an all-powerful state.

The French and American revolutions were waged on precisely the same declared rights of liberty and equality. One was a ghastly failure that ended in the reign of terror; the other, a magnificent success. Why?

In the philosophy of the French Revolution, the rights of man were defined by a governmental committee and extended at the sufferance of that government.

In the American view, these rights come from God, their existence is preeminent and their preservation is the principal object of government. If the source of our fundamental rights is not God, then the source becomes man -- or more precisely, a government of men. And rights that can be extended by government may also be withdrawn by government.

Words matter. Ideas matter. And symbols matter.

The public furor fomented by the Ninth Circuit Court over the Pledge of Allegiance must not be devalued as a mere defense of harmless deistic references and quaint old customs.

The principle at stake is central to the very foundation of the American nation and the very survival of its freedoms."
--California State Senator Tom McClintock