The United States Supreme Court has decided to hear a case involving the issue of children being able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. The issue revolves around the words "under God” which will in essence bring about the issue of separation of church and state. To be sure, this matter will have far reaching implications whichever way it is decided.

As I have cited before, there is no verbiage in the United States Constitution stating there is a separation of church and state. The First Amendment declares, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…” This is a far cry from prohibiting religion from the public arena. Most all of the Constitutional scholars will admit that the Framers of the Constitution intended for religious values and the moralities that they foster to play a significant part in the day to day business of our government. In fact, they had counted on an elevated sense of civic responsibility to be embedded into each and every citizen of this country, a civic responsibility that has certainly been waning for quite some time and that diminishes to this day.

It is through the moral guidance and principles of religious philosophy that the Framers had envisioned the populace to embrace their civic responsibility. Today, while some among us endeavor to banish all religious precepts from the public lexicon, we find ourselves standing witness to a moment in time when the morality of religions from around the world are being demonized as anti-American. We are seeing a preference for the larger government caretaker devoid of a moral compass rather than a government nurtured by the populous from a position of multi-cultural morality. Civic responsibility is but a shadow phrase in the textbooks of history, ironically less than fifty years after John F. Kennedy made the statement, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Our sense of civic responsibility is in a great state of disrepair and is as far from what the Framers of the Constitution had in mind as one can possibly go.

Further, the First Amendment guarantees to citizens the right to practice their religion without fear of persecution. The exact words are, "…or prohibiting the exercise thereof…” With these words so well defined one would think this matter would be moot, yet today we see people losing their jobs as teachers because they wear religious symbols around their necks and little school girls being suspended for wearing head wear that is specific to the practice of their religion. We are seeing lawsuit after lawsuit attempting to banish all religious symbols from the public arena. It is all too clear to anyone versed in the basics of the Constitution, its framing and the mindset of the Framers themselves that this is most certainly not what the Framers envisioned when they incorporated their idea of non-governmental interference in religious practice. They knew that the morality of religion was essential to the success of their new nation. It was true then and it remains the truth today.

While there are those who will counter with the notion of "the incorporation of rights by due process”, an ideal that became popular after 1925, the very fact that something has been allowed to progress down an incorrect path for an indiscriminant amount of time stands as need enough for the error to be rectified, and the sooner the better. The further we get away from the law of the land and the more we allow our errors to be accepted the harder it will be to see and come to grips with the errors of our ways. A failure to do so will find us mired in accepted mediocrity when we should have been striving to be so much more.

The United States Supreme Court has before them the proverbial fork in the road. Down one avenue they have the ideals and vision as submitted by the Framers to our Constitution, the document by which we have flourished for over 200 years. Down the other avenue we have progressive ideals that would set aside the guiding principles that our Framers used to create this nation. As the Framers had the vision to give the power to interpret the Constitution to the Supreme Court we can only hope that they stand by the good sense and the vision of the Framers. For if they choose otherwise we stand on the brink of a future that would have no moral fiber, no ethical boundaries and we would be progressing down an avenue where religious freedoms are as embraced as they were in the former Soviet Union. We all need to pray that they make the right decision.

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.