Yes, there is a God!

Since there was no penalty for doing so, mind you.

I never minded saying it at the time, but then again I was a good little believer then. ;-)

I refused along with the burnouts. I was not strictly one of the burnouts, but I was a burnout sympathizer.

"Taking a hammer to one of the pillars of U.S. civic society. . ." From Reuters version of the same story. Lets not go into hysterics, folks.

Wasn't thee "under god" bit added in the '50's, like under eisenhower or s.th?

Yup. Ike signed it into law in 1954, I think.

Pledging allegiance to a flag is stupid enough, god or no.

This will be appealed, of course. Somehow, I don't think Billy "Segregation Is Just Fine By Me" Rehnquist, Fat Tony Scalia, and Clarence "Uncle" Thomas are going to like this decision one bit. And it's only applicable to the Ninth Circuit (California, Oregon, Washington, and [I think] Nevada), not the rest of the USA.

Still, it sounds like a great moment for American jurisprudence, and long overdue. That, and anything that will make the Jesus Freaks howl is fine by me on principle.

Oh yeah, anyone wanna bet that the Republicans are gonna float a "Pledge of Allegiance" Amendment, à la that ol' right-wing favorite the Flag Burning Amendment? All the better to rile up the Jesus Freaks.

To which I say, "bring it, motherfuckers!"

I may be jumping the gun a bit, true. Actually, there are some varieties of Christian who will be in favor of this decision. There's no reason that someone who is a religious believer can't be in favor of a strong interpretation of the Establishment Clause. In fact, minority sects and denominations tend to be more sensitive about these things. (The Seventh Day Adventists publish a magazine specifically devoted to issues of religious freedom and separation of church and state.)

This was a topic on a crappy local morning radio show on a "new rock" station. The host is a total Diet Coke Christian (I hate to put that term in print but it applies so well here). I called in got on the air and upset everyone. I admitted I was an atheist and went into the whole Founding Fathers were deists speech and all that other history/religion stuff. The next caller after me said the obligatory "God doesn't belive in you either". Everyone laughed, everyone apparently has 1 brain cell. Anyways, I just got done writing a very long letter to him and might try to get it up here if anyone would like to read it. The knuckleheaded host challenged me on the meaning of democracy. Fuck! I hate "new rock" people!

By DAVID KRAVETS .c The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (June 27) - A day after he flabbergasted the nation by declaring the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional, a federal appeals court judge put his ruling on hold indefinitely Thursday.

Circuit Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, who wrote the 2-1 opinion that said the phrase ''under God'' violates the separation of church and state, stayed his ruling until fellow members of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decide whether to reconsider the case. He gave no reason.

The appeals court can rehear the case with the same three judges, or an 11-judge panel.

Goodwin's stay Thursday has no immediate impact, since the ruling already was on hold by court rules for 45 days to allow for any challenges.

Vikram Amar, a Hastings College of the Law scholar who closely follows the appeals court, said the latest move means that, for now, Wednesday's ruling that the pledge is unconstitutional ''has no legal force or effect.''

''They're acknowledging the likelihood that the whole 9th Circuit may take a look at this,'' Amar said.

The court's clerk, Cathy Catterson, said none of the parties to the case has asked the court for a rehearing yet. But the government and others have strongly suggested they will do so.....the article continues with a recap.

I knew it wouldn't last.

ugh! lemme start a new thread about that...

Like Bush needed help getting re-elected.