“An appellate court has upheld references to God on U.S. currency and in the Pledge of Allegiance, rejecting arguments they violate the constitutional separation of church and state. ‘The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded,’ Judge Carlos Bea wrote for the majority in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 2-1 ruling Thursday. Bea noted that schools do not require students to recite the pledge, which was amended to include the words ‘under God’ by a 1954 federal law. Members of Congress at the time said they wanted to set the United States apart from ‘godless communists.’” (03/12/10)