Image via Bush White House Archives
A French woman has filed a federal lawsuit alleging her dream to become a U.S. citizen is being denied by four words: “So help me God.”
On Thursday, Olga Paule Perrier-Bilbo – an atheist and French national who moved to Scituate, Mass., in 2000 and has had a green card since 2004 – filed a lawsuit against Congress, the United States of America, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director L. Francis Cissna claiming that the phrase “so help me God” in the Naturalization Oath violates her First Amendment rights.
"The phrase 'so help me God,' added to the nation's officials Naturalization Oath, sends the ancillary message to members of the audience that disbelieve in God that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to those that believe in God that they are insiders, favored members of the political community," the suit claims.
"Accordingly, the current oath violates the first 10 words of the Bill of Rights, and to participate in a ceremony which violates that key portion of the United States Constitution is not supporting of defending the constitution as the oath demands," the lawsuit says.
Even though the federal government already approved her request for naturalization and even gave her the option to say a modified oath at her citizenship ceremony, Perrier-Bilbo alleges that the government is “substantially” burdening her religious freedom.
"By placing a religious statement (to which Plaintiff does not adhere) into the Oath of Naturalization, and then forcing Plaintiff to use an alternative oath (so that she must feel less than a new citizen), Defendants substantially burden Plaintiff in her exercise of religion," the suit claims.
This is not the first time someone has sued the government for allegedly endorsing religion.
Several parents in Sacramento, Calif., in 2005 filed a lawsuit seeking to remove the phrase "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.
The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the pledge does not represent a government endorsement of religion.
In the 2014 case of Jane Doe Vs. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that the words "under God" represent a patriotic, not a religious, exercise.
Other efforts such as removing the phrase "In God We Trust" from American currency have failed in court.
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