A U.S. District Judge refused to take the final four words out of the Inaugural Oath of Office after a lawsuit was filed about month ago to remove the words.
Michael Newdow, an atheist from California, filed legal action against the phrase "so help me God" in the oath President Barack Obama took Tuesday.
Newdow, along with other atheists, wanted the saying taken out of the oath. The group said the words were an "unconstitutional intrusion of religion into government," according to a news release from the office of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.
The attorney general and all other 49 states took legal action against the initial lawsuit, which the attorney general described as a bipartisan effort to defend an acknowledgement of faith, according to the Jan. 8 release. The group of attorneys general believed saying the four words in the oath were a constitutional right in the context of the inaugural celebration.
"Plaintiffs are not just challenging presidential traditions; they are effectively attacking the laws and customs of virtually every state in the Union, including oaths of office in at least 20 state constitutions," said Texas Solicitor General James Ho, according to the release. "From daily prayers during legislative sessions to monuments on public property displaying the Ten Commandments, the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the constitutionality of official acknowledgments of faith."
Abbott also echoed this statement in the release.
"Despite more than 200 years of established tradition - and no legal precedent for their challenge - a group of activists have asked the courts to interfere with President-elect Obama's right to pray and invoke God during his inauguration as 44th President of the United States," he said.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton refused to order Obama to take the words out, saying that his right to free speech would be violated, according to the release. He also questioned whether or not he had the right to order Chief Justice John Roberts not to ask President Obama, "So help you God?"
"This nation was founded on people seeking religious freedom," said Greg Ramzinski, director of the campus ministry at St. Elizabeth's Catholic church. "He (Obama) should have the ability to call upon the help of God should he so choose."
After misspeaking part of the presidential oath, Obama finished with the controversial phrase, as did Vice President Joe Biden.
"There are a lot of people that disagree with our beliefs, (but) I'm glad they allowed him to keep it in there," said Austin Wadlow, associate university minister at First Baptist Church Lubbock. "They used the name 'God' a lot during inauguration, which was cool."
Newdow also wanted Rev. Joseph Lowery and Rick Warren to be prohibited from praying during Tuesday's inauguration. Both men were present and prayed.
He also led the first failed protest of "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and challenged prayer at George W. Bush's inaugurations, according to the news release.
George Washington added the words "so help me God" at his own liberty during his inauguration in 1789. Each president after him finished the oath with those words.
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