| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
11 Nov 2005 12:07:53 PM |
| Object: |
Under-God supporters face off against atheists |
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15546317&BRD=1347&PAG=461&dept_id=432990&rfi=6
[excerpt]
Under-God supporters face off against atheists
JILL KAISER DION, Editor November 09, 2005
More than 100 supporters of the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of
Allegiance squared off Saturday against a half dozen atheists who want the
religious phrase struck from the pledge.
The two sides gathered at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Bridgeport Avenue
in response to a California court's September decision that it is
unconstitutional to recite the pledge, with its religious phrase, in a
public school.
"This ruling seems unfathomable since it undermines the very foundation
upon which our country was built," said Christopher Donnells, Grand Knight
of the Knights of Columbus Tinto Council 47 in Milford.
Judge Lawrence Karlton of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
California ruled Sept. 14 in the case of Michael Newdow vs. the U.S.
Congress. In his decision, Karlton concurred with an earlier decision that
the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools.
"The court determined," Karlton wrote, "[that] the school district's
policy.... places students in the untenable position of choosing between
participating in an exercise with religious content or protesting."
He further wrote that the policy is especially coercive because school age
children are young and impressionable.
Defending 'under God'
Knights, veterans, city officials and others who gathered to protest the
decision this past weekend donned white T-shirts emblazoned with a hand and
the words "I pledge."
[end of excerpt]
*****************************************************************
Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
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