November 14, 2005

Newdow Again Seeks To Impose Atheism On Religious Americans

HeÂ’s at it again. IsnÂ’t there a judicial rule about the filing of frivolous lawsuits?

A Sacramento County man says he will file a federal lawsuit in the coming week demanding the U.S. Treasury remove the words "In God We Trust" from American currency.

Michael Newdow is the same man who led a legal effort to ban the recitation of the pledge of allegiance in public schools because of the phrase "under God."

Newdow says the words "In Good We Trust" on currency is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. He adds it, "excludes people who don't believe in God."

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Newdow's challenge of the pledge of allegiance because he's not the custodial parent of a student forced to say the prayer. The activist has since recruited other families who also oppose the pledge to re file the suit. It is now pending in the federal appeals courts.

Newdow says he has little patience for those who say the references to God are appropriate because of the country's history.

"It's not the history that counts. It's not the patriotism. What it is, is these people want to get their religious views in our government," he said.

And you want yours there, Michael – whether or not the rest of America agrees.

Oh, and by the way, the Supreme Court just let stand the dismissal of a suit exactly like yours.

A U.S. appeals court ruled that the lawsuit failed to show that the display had no legitimate secular purpose, that it has the effect of endorsing religion or that it has resulted in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.

The appeals court said Congress first authorized the phrase "In God We Trust" on coins in 1865, and Congress made it the national motto in 1956. It is inscribed above the speaker's chair in the U.S. House of Representatives and above the main door of the U.S. Senate chamber.

Attorneys for the two lawyers asked the justices to set aside the appeals court's ruling and send the case back for reconsideration in view of the Supreme Court's decision in June that Kentucky courthouses violated church-state separation by putting copies of the Ten Commandments on display.

The high court rejected the appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.

So I guess that you will just have to deal with being oppressed by all of the majority who find that phrase inoffensive. Head out to North Korea, Cuba, or Red China if you want official atheism.

Posted by: Greg at 12:41 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Nothing is more annoying than a God Fearing Atheist.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at Mon Nov 14 12:52:50 2005 (ics4u)

2 While, as a matter of theory, I see what he's saying, and I think he's being more logical than you are (not mentioning God on our currency is NOT an endorsement of atheism anymore than the lack of a Red Sox bumper on your car is an endorsement of the Yankees), there's something called a "de minimus" violation - in other words, get a life Newdow.

Posted by: Dan at Tue Nov 15 03:26:04 2005 (D+DIf)

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