"under God" reaches the Supreme Court
Oct. 14th, 2003 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javasaurusI do not think government money should be used for ten commandment monuments, and I don't think the government should in any other way endorse Christianity, or any other religion. Don't get me wrong, I don't think we should necessarily keep our beliefs behind church doors, either. I'm very much in favor of making spirituality and religion part of life, and I'm in favor of embracing ideas such as the Golden Rule, and I would be more afraid of the senator that casts votes based on his purse-strings rather than his morals. But a government is not a person, or even a majority of people, but all of the people, and when the government promotes any kind of religious doctrine, no matter how popular and well-accepted, it step on the rights of all of us.
The use of "under God" in the Pledge is now going to the Supreme Court. I cannot imagine that a fair court would find it constitutional. If the court rules against "under God" however, I must admit to some fear of the repurcussions--there will be large groups of people, in and out of schools, loudly shouting "under God" at the "appropriate" place in the pledge, and chastising, ostracizing, or even persecuting any who don't, or who speak out against it. Oh, the irony of such a situation, that while pledging allegience to a coutry's laws, they will be at the same time violating those same laws.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out...
Supreme Court article
The use of "under God" in the Pledge is now going to the Supreme Court. I cannot imagine that a fair court would find it constitutional. If the court rules against "under God" however, I must admit to some fear of the repurcussions--there will be large groups of people, in and out of schools, loudly shouting "under God" at the "appropriate" place in the pledge, and chastising, ostracizing, or even persecuting any who don't, or who speak out against it. Oh, the irony of such a situation, that while pledging allegience to a coutry's laws, they will be at the same time violating those same laws.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out...
Supreme Court article
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-14 01:26 pm (UTC)If the court does rule (as it should) that "Under God" added in 1954 under the McCarthy era (if you aren't Christian you are a Communist and should be arrested); then will the "In God We Trust" be removed from our coinage? I personally find that more offensive (it is easier to not say those words than to not use money).
However, no matter which way the court goes, there will probably be some outcry. I hope that they follow the quote that
"Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.
"-- James Madison, fourth president of the U.S.