A New Jersey family has filed a lawsuit against a school district to have the words "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.

The family claims that by making their child recite the daily pledge, the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District is prejudiced against their religious beliefs in atheism and humanism, and violates the state constitution, The Asbury Park, NJ Press reported.  

The pledge "publicly disparages plaintiffs' religious beliefs, calls plaintiffs' patriotism into question, portrays plaintiffs as outsiders and second-class citizens, and forces (the child) to choose between nonparticipation in a patriotic exercise or participation in a patriotic exercise that is invidious to him and his religious class," according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Monmouth County, the newspaper reported.

The unidentified plaintiffs argue that as atheists they are constantly ranked the least trusted group in the nation and that the words "under God" violate the New Jersey constitution's equal protection clause, the newspaper reported.

According to state law, all students are required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Yet kids who attend school in the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional district don't have to recite the pledge if they don't want too, David Rubin, defense attorney representing the school district, told The Asbury Park, NJ Press.

While the lawsuit acknowledges students can opt out of reciting the pledge, "the child does not wish to be excluded from it, and in fact wants to be able to participate in an exercise that does not portray other religious groups as first-class citizens and his own as second-class," said the lawsuit filed in partnership with the nonprofit American Humanist Association.

Based in Washington D.C., the nonprofit advocates for the rights of atheists and humanists, which is a mixture of atheism and ideals from the Enlightenment. The "under God" phrase was added to the pledge in 1954 as a way to separate America form the communist Soviet Union, according to the lawsuit, the newspaper reported.

"The Soviet Union fell in 1991, and the need, if there ever was any, to distinguish America in this manner from communist adversaries no longer exists," the lawsuit said.