Re “SJC upholds ‘under God’ in pledge” (Metro, May 10): I do believe in God, but I, too, object to children and adults being expected to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or become alienated by remaining silent. Similarly, I object to “In God we trust” being our official national motto. Neither the pledge nor the motto originally included references to God, and for good reason.

Even those of us who believe in God may object because the phrases not only make reference to God, but they take a position on the nature of that God, a highly theological stance. To mention a nation “under God,” to me, makes a statement about the nature of God as a being that gives its blessing to some nations and perhaps not to others. To state that we put trust in God takes a position on the ways in which God might be involved in the affairs of humankind.

So, aside from all the respect due to those who do not believe in God, I object when the government promotes a certain concept of God that may not be shared by many other God-loving Americans.