Report Inappropriate Comments

From the 9th circuit hearing on the Newdow case 2004, it supports keeping the prayer and that such prayer does not violate the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution:

* It was decided in the 1954 insertion of "under God" was made "to recognize a Supreme Being" and advance religion at a time "when the government was publicly inveighing against atheistic communism"—a fact which (according to the court) the federal government did not dispute. The court also noted that when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the act which added the phrase "under God," he also announced "From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty."

The Supreme Court has upheld this decision on June 14, 2004, in an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, five of the remaining eight justices - Stevens, Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, David Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg - found in examining the constitutional question, and found the 9th circuit correct, it did not offend the Constitution.

Rehnquist's opinion asserts the term "under God" does not endorse or establish religion but it actually asserts that the term merely acknowledges the nation's religious heritage, in particular the role of religion for the Founding Fathers of the United States. Thus, according to the opinion, the Pledge is a secular act rather than an act of indoctrination in religion or expression of religious devotion.

O'Connor stated in Newdow, "I believe that government can acknowledge or refer to the divine without offending the Constitution. This category of “ceremonial deism” most clearly encompasses such things as the national motto (“In God We Trust”), religious references in traditional patriotic songs such as the Star-Spangled Banner, and the words with which the Marshal of this Court opens each of its sessions (“God save the United States and this honorable Court”). See Allegheny, 492 U.S., at 630 (opinion of O’Connor, J.). These references are not minor trespasses upon the Establishment Clause to which I turn a blind eye. Instead, their history, character, and context prevent them from being constitutional violations at all.

Please join us to stop socialist fascism and save God , the family and this great nation. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_170359706318664