Establishment of the Pledge - Is "Under God" Constitutional?

The question has been posed frequently in past years and is likely to pervade our consciousness for a while is whether or not "god" has a place in modern American society. The answer is evasive at best, for what religion is and what actions can be taken against it still have yet to be answered by the debaters on both sides. Thus I take a stab at it here: Should "under god" be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance?

The First Amendment of the United States Constitution allows citizens the right to freedom of religion. In recent years, many have come to interpret the First Amendment as granting freedom from religion, which takes religion away from the people. Of course neither is expressly stated in the text of the amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Although the First Amendment is clear that the government cannot interfere with religion, the framers of the Constitution never defined the word "religion." Blacks Law Dictionary says "in its broadest sense [religion] includes all forms of belief in the existence of superior beings exercising power over human beings by volition, imposing rules of conduct, with future rewards and punishments." Broadly interpreted, this could imply that the government is "god" since it has "power over human beings" within its jurisdiction and "imposes rules of conduct, with future rewards and punishments" within those parameters. So, with the word "religion" and the word "God" defined to an extent, the question of whether or not "one nation, under god" is constitutionally protected needs to be answered.

Roughly translated, it means one country unified under a superior entity based on the definitions above. It was first used by Abraham Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address and was added to the Pledge of Allegiance by Dwight Eisenhower as a religious statement to the world. Being defined as a religious phrase, it cannot be banned or disestablished by the government because the Constitution protects such phrases. However, the establishment of this religious statement was made with the enactment of a law in 1954, and that violates the tenets of the First Amendment.

I believe that there is no right or wrong superior being. It does not matter what a United States citizen calls this "god," because his or her right to do so is protected by the Constitution of the United States. The religious freedom granted by the First Amendment of the Constitution is the freedom from government interference with religion, not the freedom from religious interference with everyday life. Since the establishment of this phrase as a part of everyday life was enacted unlawfully, I think the government should lawfully announce that if someone does not want to say "god," then he or she does not have to say it while those who wish to continue saying it, should be allowed to do so at their discretion. That is the freedom granted by the Constitution.

"US Constitution: First Amendment," FindLaw
Bryan A. Garner, Black's Law Dictionary, West Publishing
Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln Online
1954: Information and Much More, Answers.com