Under God


I read this past week where the federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is Constitutional.

I suppose the ruling left some people swearing – and no doubt using God’s name in doing so. Which, if you really stop to think about it, makes you wonder: if there is no God, why use His name at all?

It doesn’t really matter whether it had been ruled constitutional or not, the fact remains that this nation is under God, as are all nations. It is just unfortunate that people do not take time to understand what that means.

Did you ever pause to consider what life would be like if there were no God? That is, if life happened by chance and random, cosmic accident?

Lee Strobel, in writing The Case for the Creator, presents the thoughts of William Provine. Provine is from Cornell University, where he has been on the faculty since 1969. A Ph.D from The University of Chicago, Provine’s area of expertise is in the history of evolution and genetics. I have heard Provine lecture and listened to these very words. Writes Strobel, “If Darwinism is true, then there are five inescapable conclusions:
• There’s no evidence for God
• There’s no life after death
• There’s no absolute foundation for right and wrong
• There’s no ultimate meaning for life
• People don’t really have free will”

Obviously, the five articles of faith for those who choose not to believe in God are diametrically opposed to what those who choose to believe in God embrace.

But in attempting to write with brevity and clarity, allow me to reply.

• The evidence for a God is abundant throughout nature, from the smallest cell to the galaxies – the symmetry and design of our world is unmistakable.
• People, both ancient and modern – and from all cultures, have ascribed to the belief in life after death since the beginning of time. Why would this knowledge be intuitive if not true? There are simply some issues outside the parameters of science, and this is one.
• From childhood people have a sense of fairness, decency, right and wrong. How can even a child cry out “it’s not fair” if there is no God given standard of right and wrong that provides a moral framework for the world?
• The soul of man craves for ultimate meaning and must have it for life to possess any rational basis. Otherwise, there is no such thing as sanity and there is no reason for anything.
• The fatalism of being trapped in making responses based on genetics and environment, means that a person has no more significance than a tree or an animal. Can this be, or does “mind” really count for something?

I am appreciative of the court’s ruling, but in a few days it will be largely forgotten. Long after it is forgotten however, the living God will still rule over the nations. Nations are all...

Under God.