One Nation, Under God(s)?

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There are about 1.3 million Jehovah's Witnesses in the U.S., making up 0.6% of the U.S. adult population.

Jehovah's Witnesses are far from polytheists or nonbelievers. They believe in one God, and that Jesus was the son of God but is not part of the Godhead. However, the group does have an interesting stance on the Pledge of Allegiance. Jehovah's Witnesses do not recite the Pledge of Allegiance. They give serious credence to the biblical injunction not to bow down to graven images.

all prayers should be directed toward God, not to any saints, images, or even Jesus. Saluting the flag is considered to be like praying to a graven image.

So far the Jehovah's Witness Office of Public Information hasn't released a statement about the pledge ruling, but it is unlikely the decision will affect how members of this faith feel about the pledge. Jehovah's Witnesses have already done battle in U.S. courts about students' right to refrain from saying the Pledge of Allegiance. In a 1943 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that forcing students to say the pledge was unconstitutional, in a case brought by a Jehovah's Witness family.

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The 2000 U.S. Census recorded nearly 2.5 million American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the U.S. According to the American Religous Identification Survey, there are an estimated 103,000 Native American adults in the U.S. who self-identify as following Native American religion.

Although the beliefs in Native American spirituality are very diverse, it is common for the spirits throughout nature to be seen as a single creative force, sometimes referred to as the Great Spirit, Mother Earth, or Wakan-Tanka.Many do not consider their spiritual practices a religion, but simply part of their way of life.

No official Native American reaction, though some Native groups do promote an "

," in which indigenous people pledge allegiance to their tribe.

or

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There are about 300,000 pagans in the U.S., including people who identify as Pagan, Wiccan, and Druid, according to the American Religious Identification Survey 2001. These numbers have grown substantially since 1990, especially among Wiccans, who have increased in number from 8,000 to 134,000.

Wiccans and other pagans have diverse views about the nature of God. Many Wiccans believe in a feminine divinity--the Goddess, or Mother of all living. Many pagans find divinity in nature. Other pagan religions, such as Asatru and some other

are polytheistic. Modern heathens who practice the pre-Christian religions of Greece and Rome recognize a pantheon of gods, from Aphrodite to Zeus.

Most pagans on the Beliefnet message boards welcomed the appeals court ruling about the Pledge of Allegiance. "I'm plenty patriotic and I've got no problem with Christians expressing their faith. I don't want others religon pushed on me or my government to promote one religious belief in a multi-faith nation," wrote member

. (

.) "I agree with the ruling," wrote member

. "Growing up in a family who didn't belong to any one religion, I remember finding it odd that we had to be 'one nation under God' every morning when I said the pledge at school." (

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and

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629, 000, or about 0.3% of the U.S. adult population.

There is no consensus among Unitarians about the existence or non-existence of God, and Unitarians welcome all beliefs about a deity, or lack thereof. Many Unitarians are nontheistic, while some do have strong belief in God. Some Unitarian congregations do have a Christian bent, with members sharing faith in God and Jesus Christ.

The president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Rev. William Sinkford, issued this statement about the pledge ruling: "America is increasingly becoming more religiously pluralistic. This pluralism is a blessing. For many, the language of God is an affirmation, but this language does not resonate with all Americans. The ruling of the federal appeals court in California, which undoubtedly will be appealed, raises questions about what it means to be an American, to be patriotic. The question is not what metaphor we use for the holy; the question is what commitment we make to justice.

"It is important to understand that the court's ruling does not strike down the Pledge of Allegiance; it merely says that Congress made a mistake in 1954 when it added the words 'under God' to the Pledge. The original Pledge was recited for many decades without any religious reference. We applaud the court's efforts to restore the original Pledge."

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