I'm sure you've all heard that a federal court in California found the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional based on its use of the phrase "under God." And you've got the typical outraged cry from the populace that the court's gone too far, and legal scholars who don't see this holding up. It won't, and probably shouldn't.

But consider what President Eisenhower wrote when he signed the bill that included that phrase into the pledge: "Millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty."

If I weren't of the Judeo-Christian family of faiths, that sort of talk would make me a little nervous, especially if I'd spent part of my life in a country where being the wrong religion can lose you a job, shut you out of schools, or get you killed. And given the whole "Christian right" thing, I can see where some may be concerned now. Thankfully, we live in a large and pluralistic society, one which if the government woke up one morning and told us "Oh, by the way, the only way you're getting a job, education, or the right to vote is to become Presbyterian," we'd probably find a less intrusive government post haste.

And besides, the kids can just not say "under God." Or they can put in their own: "under Jehovah," "under Allah," "under Baal," whatever. That's kind of what I do when I'm bored during the national anthem, and I start to channel Enrico Palazzo.

Which reminds me of a funny story. I was at a Nashville Predators--Chicago Blackhawks game back in 2000, and during the anthem the scant Hawks fans in the crowd went nuts, as they do at every home game. Yelling, cheering, the whole bit. The home fans, not used to this sort of thing, would turn and look every few seconds, probably to make sure the Chicagoans weren't going to start throwing things. So, once it's all over, the locals start in, led by a woman who asked "Don't you have any respect?" Clearly, these folks had never seen a game played in Chicago on the TV, and I thought their defense of our unsingable, wordy anthem was cute. Especially considering that some of them would have prefered Dixie to anything else.