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New Challenge to "Under God" in Pledge of Allegiance
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
Freedom From Religion Foundation - Nov 21, 2007
http://ffrf.org/news/2007/newpledgecase.php
New Hampshire:
Newdow, FFRF Launch New Challenge of "Under God" in Pledge
Nov. 21 2007
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has joined Michael Newdow in
launching a new challenge of the religious phrase "under God" in the
Pledge of Allegiance. Plaintiffs include an anonymous Hanover couple
who are Foundation members, as well as the Foundation on behalf of its
New Hampshire members.
Defendants include Congress, and three local school districts.
The federal lawsuit was filed in the Hanover school district on Oct.
31, with plaintiffs represented by Newdow, an emergency room doctor who
has a law degree.
The Hanover couple, identified as "Jan and Pat Doe," are an atheist and
an agnostic with three children in the Hanover schools.
"Plaintiffs, generally deny that God exists, and maintain that their
constitutional and statutory rights are abridged when the school
district defendants participate in making the purely religious,
monotheistic claim that the United States is 'one nation under God,'"
the lawsuit states.
The original pledge was secular until Congress inserted "under God" in
1954, after lobbying by Christian groups.
Newdow originally challenged the religious wording in the pledge
several years ago, winning his case in a legal triumph before the Ninth
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case was thrown out after the U.S.
Supreme court ruled in 2004 that Newdow, as the noncustodial parent of
his daughter, had no standing to sue.
Newdow is pursuing a new challenge in California with a set of
custodial parents. An appeal of that case, as well as Newdow's
challenge of the words "In God We Trust" as a national motto, will be
heard in early December by the Ninth Circuit.
A 2002 New Hampshire law requires schools to include recitation of the
pledge of allegiance in every school day but adds that student
participation is voluntary.
The two plaintiffs still believe that by including the phrase in the
pledge, the district is nevertheless "endorsing the religious notion
that God exists" and thereby creating a "societal environment where
prejudice against atheists . . . is perpetuated," according to the suit.
"It should be noted that Plaintiffs are making no objection to the
recitation of a patriotic Pledge of Allegiance. The government is
certainly within its right to foster patriotism, and it may certainly
make the determination that recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance
serves that purpose. However, government may not employ or include
sectarian religious dogma towards this end," the legal complaint states.
"By placing the religious words 'under God' into the Pledge, Congress
not only interfered with the patriotism and national unity the Pledge
was meant to engender, but it actually fostered divisiveness. . . in a
manner expressly forbidden by the Constitution."
"We are delighted to be joining with Michael Newdow and members in New
Hampshire in this challenge. The religious tampering with the Pledge of
Allegiance during the 1950s means that several generations of Americans
have grown accustomed to the idea that patriotism and godliness are
synonymous. This violation has subverted respect for the separation
between church and state, and for nonreligious citizens. It is time to
restore the pledge to its inclusive and secular original wording," said
Foundation co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Freedom From Religion Foundation
PO Box 750 Madison, WI 53701 (608) 256-8900
http://www.ffrf.org
(c) Freedom From Religion Foundation.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
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New Challenge to "Under God" in Pledge of Allegiance
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
Freedom From Religion Foundation - Nov 21, 2007
http://ffrf.org/news/2007/newpledgecase.php
New Hampshire:
Newdow, FFRF Launch New Challenge of "Under God" in Pledge
Nov. 21 2007
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has joined Michael Newdow in
launching a new challenge of the religious phrase "under God" in the
Pledge of Allegiance. Plaintiffs include an anonymous Hanover couple
who are Foundation members, as well as the Foundation on behalf of its
New Hampshire members.
Defendants include Congress, and three local school districts.
The federal lawsuit was filed in the Hanover school district on Oct.
31, with plaintiffs represented by Newdow, an emergency room doctor who
has a law degree.
The Hanover couple, identified as "Jan and Pat Doe," are an atheist and
an agnostic with three children in the Hanover schools.
"Plaintiffs, generally deny that God exists, and maintain that their
constitutional and statutory rights are abridged when the school
district defendants participate in making the purely religious,
monotheistic claim that the United States is 'one nation under God,'"
the lawsuit states.
The original pledge was secular until Congress inserted "under God" in
1954, after lobbying by Christian groups.
Newdow originally challenged the religious wording in the pledge
several years ago, winning his case in a legal triumph before the Ninth
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case was thrown out after the U.S.
Supreme court ruled in 2004 that Newdow, as the noncustodial parent of
his daughter, had no standing to sue.
Newdow is pursuing a new challenge in California with a set of
custodial parents. An appeal of that case, as well as Newdow's
challenge of the words "In God We Trust" as a national motto, will be
heard in early December by the Ninth Circuit.
A 2002 New Hampshire law requires schools to include recitation of the
pledge of allegiance in every school day but adds that student
participation is voluntary.
The two plaintiffs still believe that by including the phrase in the
pledge, the district is nevertheless "endorsing the religious notion
that God exists" and thereby creating a "societal environment where
prejudice against atheists . . . is perpetuated," according to the suit.
"It should be noted that Plaintiffs are making no objection to the
recitation of a patriotic Pledge of Allegiance. The government is
certainly within its right to foster patriotism, and it may certainly
make the determination that recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance
serves that purpose. However, government may not employ or include
sectarian religious dogma towards this end," the legal complaint states.
"By placing the religious words 'under God' into the Pledge, Congress
not only interfered with the patriotism and national unity the Pledge
was meant to engender, but it actually fostered divisiveness. . . in a
manner expressly forbidden by the Constitution."
"We are delighted to be joining with Michael Newdow and members in New
Hampshire in this challenge. The religious tampering with the Pledge of
Allegiance during the 1950s means that several generations of Americans
have grown accustomed to the idea that patriotism and godliness are
synonymous. This violation has subverted respect for the separation
between church and state, and for nonreligious citizens. It is time to
restore the pledge to its inclusive and secular original wording," said
Foundation co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor.
Freedom From Religion Foundation
PO Box 750 Madison, WI 53701 (608) 256-8900
http://www.ffrf.org
(c) Freedom From Religion Foundation.
=================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Our main website: http://www.blythe.org
List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================
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