“So help me God” is constitutional

A federal judge has thrown out an atheist group’s lawsuit that would forbid the President-elect from saying “so help me God” with the oath of office as well as prayer at the inauguration. From CNSNews.com :

Atheist Michael Newdow and 30 other “nontheistic” plaintiffs say they will decide Friday whether to appeal Thursday’s decision by a federal judge dismissing their demand that President-elect Barack Obama be barred from saying “So help me God” when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.
 
U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton also refused to block prayers at the inaugural – leaving the Reverends Rick Warren and Joseph Lowery free to give the invocation and benediction at Obama’s swearing-in. . . .

Walton said that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit because they failed to show any concrete “harm” that would result from allowing the prayers or the phrase to be said. 

The judge also said he did not have authority over the Presidential Inaugural Committee –a private entity that is not formally part of the U.S. government.

Walton found there is little difference between legislative prayer – which is constitutional –and presidential prayer, rejecting the notion that presidential prayer was similar to school-mandated prayer, which the Supreme Court has previously ruled unconstitutional.

It seems to me that the “so help me God” is an extra prayer from the person taking the oath. That should fall under his freedom of religion. And the prayer is an expression from the person doing the praying and thus must reflect his religious beliefs. A Christian will invoke Christ; a Muslim will invoke Allah; and Gene Robinson will invoke his “God of many understandings.” That too falls under freedom of religion.