By Britt Nelson

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.

Expats living in Costa Rica, who grew up in the United States of America, can say goodbye to the Pledge of Allegiance that was recited daily by schoolchildren everywhere beginning in 1945.

For most Americans, Executive Action #13738 -signed into law this week by President Obama- is a hard pill to swallow. Traditional America is quickly disappearing in favor of atheists and minorities who are not Christian, but this all depends on how you perceive the Pledge of Allegiance and the intent behind it.

Some are calling this Executive Order to be the single most controversial action taken by President Obama during his administration. The order revokes the federal government’s official recognition of the Pledge of Allegiance, making it illegal to display the Pledge in any federal building or reciting it by any federal employee on duty. But the law also applies to any group or institution that receives federal funding, such as public schools.

President Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claim the Pledge is “divisive” and including the phrase “under God” no longer reflects American values.

“The Pledge excludes so many Americans who are vital to making this country what it is. Asking someone to pledge their allegiance to our country excludes Jehovah’s Witnesses, Amish, Muslims, and many others whose religious beliefs prohibit strong displays of nationalism,” said President Obama in a press conference held after the Executive Order was signed into law as reported by ABC News. “By calling this ‘one nation under God,’ we exclude the millions of hard working atheists and agnostics who call America home. By saying ‘liberty and justice for all,’ we ignore the grievances of millions of Hispanics, African Americans and Muslims who feel they have neither liberty nor justice.”

The President went on to challenge the U.S. Congress to rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance.

“I am willing to rescind my decision here today and allow the Pledge of Allegiance back into the schools if we can all agree on the creation of a new Pledge, something that includes everyone’s beliefs and not just the belief of one nationality or faith,” said President Obama.

It’s amazing that this controversial change in the fabric of America is making little national news coverage, but both Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump have both weighed in on this issue.

If elected, Clinton said she would continue the Pledge ban because the mention of God in the Pledge gives the wrong impression to school children.

“… In January, when I take office as the next president of the United States, unless I see otherwise, I will do my best to uphold this new law and ensure that it stays in effect,” Clinton commented.

Trump, meanwhile, in his usual bombastic style came out against the Pledge ban saying President Obama’s action is to make America’s children weak.

“As a Christian nation, the Pledge of Allegiance helps our children be the greatest children out there,” said Trump. “This is the first step in many in his master plan to force Sharia Law onto this great country of ours before he leaves office in January. We must all remember that this is one nation under God and not some guy and his beliefs in whatever he chooses to believe.”

Here we go again with having a small percentage of the U.S. population affecting the majority. It was not all that long ago that the Ten Commandments from the Bible were removed from public buildings and public schools. No more Christmas or Manger scenes on public grounds. Same thing goes for the removal of the Confederate Flag. Same thing goes for allowing transgender people to use any bathroom of their choice. Next thing will be the removal of “In God We Trust” printed on American currency and coins.

According to AtheistScholar.org — atheists amount to about 4 percent of the USA population and 20 percent worldwide, which seems too high considering all of world’s leading religions all have a God to believe in. Muslims in the USA are listed at 2.1 percent of the population, according to MuslimPopulation.com.

A public school student who attended the first through 12th grades in the USA would have recited the Pledge of Allegiance about 2,180 times, but not anymore. That’s one less mention of God every day in the lives of public school students.

Perhaps, national decisions such as this one made solely by President Obama and not the U.S. Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court should be made by the voters using national referendums and not depend on the U.S. Congress for such wide-reaching changes to the American way of life.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.