Should God remain in Congressional oath?

The debate on whether the phrase "so help me God" should remain in the oath taken when testifying before Congress continued last week in the wake of Louisiana GOP Congressman Mike Johnson becoming an unofficial watchdog protecting the language.

Johnson, who asked members of the Republican Study Committee of which he is chairman to join him, helped thwart the removal of "God" from the language after it had originally been stricken in the House Natural Resources Committee last month.

But last week a coalition of secular groups led by the Center for Inquiry, a group that advocates completely removing religion from government, asked House Natural Resources Chair Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., to make the phrase optional.

Grijalva has said a red line striking the phrase had been "a mistake" after it was first noticed in a draft. 

“Removing the requirement to recite this clause is a long-overdue step that would bring the committee in line with the overwhelming majority of Americans who support the constitutional separation of church and state in law and in spirit,” the coalition wrote in its letter to the chairman. "We saw the vote as an opportunity for the new Congressional majority to show leadership in making our government inclusive of all Americans regardless of their religious belief or lack thereof.

“It is never a mistake to fight for religious equality and inclusive government. The requirement to swear loyalty to a deity is a clear violation of the religious freedom enshrined in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution, which requires the government to maintain neutrality not just between different religions, but also between religion and non-religion.”

Johnson, R-Benton, has said he believes Democrats, who gained the majority in the mid-term elections, are trying to dismiss God from the oath.

"I believe it has to be a concerted effort by the Democratic leadership," Johnson said in a previous interview with USA Today Network. "It appears to me to be a strategy by leadership that I believe the vast majority of Americans will oppose once they become aware of it." 

"It can't be true that all of the chairmen are doing it by mistake, so we have to call them out. We can't allow a long-cherished tradition to go by the wayside because of political correctness."

Johnson, an evangelical Christian, called the removal of the phrase "absurd."

"It's important to me personally as a Christian, but I'm a constitutional attorney and history buff and this isn't controversial," he said.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1