A Texas couple had file a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the recently-added words “one state under God” to the state pledge. But a federal judge ruled against them.
“With today’s ruling, a federal judge denied the plaintiffs’ attempt to prevent Texas schoolchildren from pledging their allegiance to ‘one state under God’ - just as they pledge to ‘one nation under God,’” Attorney General Abbott said. “The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held patriotic acknowledgments of the Almighty such as these are completely consistent with the U.S. Constitution. Texans can rest assured that we will continue vigorously defending their children’s ability to recite the state Pledge of Allegiance each morning.’—from The Southeast Texas Record
The state pledge, which is VO.LUN.TA.RY, is recited after the national Pledge of Allegiance. Voluntary. That means doing or saying something deliberately, under one’s own free will, without constraint or an expectation of reward. Is the definition too deep for atheists to understand??
A tip o’ the bonnet to Jay at Stop the ACLU
August 31, 2007 at 6:00 am
Nonetheless, it seems kind of stupid to have a state pledge at all. Why does one need to pledge to one’s state? Not only that, but adding the words “under god” seems like it’s just baiting people, and it likely has nothing to do with the “scriptural” point of view. But what are you going to do? Most atheists, I’m sure, understand and don’t care. If people like you want to delude yourselves, as you do with Bush and Christ (the same in your view), Iraq, gays, abortion, etc., just have at it. I, personally, would prefer not to intentionally retard myself.
August 31, 2007 at 8:22 am
Oh I will have at it just as you say, and will do so without needing your permission! If publicly acknowledging the existence of God, if defending the life of the unborn, if upholding the sanctity of marriage, if loving Jesus Christ, is intentionally done so as to “retard” myself, then I shall do so, GLADLY!
September 6, 2007 at 5:35 pm
The real issue is that neither the U.S. nor the state of Texas was founded under the christian god. The founding fathers were deists, or rather naturalists (much like a wiccan or druid believes in a spiritual being). Forcing children to say otherwise is the fundamentalist christians attemtpting to re-write history. Fortunately, people can’t be burned or banished in modern times, so the good fight of the Atheists will contuinue to bring the world to it’s senses.
I could care less if people belive in santa claus, the easter bunny, or god…..just do it on your time, not on my dime.
September 7, 2007 at 4:01 am
Our founding fathers, be they Christians or deists, knew the real significance of freedom of religion. It was the first thing they put down in the Bill of Rights. The experience of religious intolerance from which early colonists had escape from was still fresh in their culture. They knew that political and religious freedom with public expression is vital to the new nation.
It’s odd, how atheists “don’t care” what people believe in, yet they’re the ones using up taxpayer funds in lawsuits via ACLU to take down crosses in memorial parks or remove small Christian emblems from official seals or remove the word “God” from pledges and our monetary system, or prohibit students from voluntarily expressing their Christian faith, ignoring the fact that our children are being taught to be Muslims in public schools.
The real issue is, atheists hate Jesus Christ, not religion, because Atheism itself is a form of religion. They don’t clamor to have a Wiccan symbol removed from a Massachusetts seal, or ban the existence of a Bhuddist bell from public property, or remove Islam from the public school curriculum. But they sure get loud and self-righteous, and they dig into public coffers, to prohibit voluntary public expressions of Christian faith.
September 7, 2007 at 5:32 am
You’re almost correct on every point.
The Founding Fathers didn’t craft the Constitution for freedom OF religion, it was for freedom FROM religion. Hence we have wordings like, “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” This comes from Article 6, section 3.
Additionally, the first ammendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Religious people only see what is after the comma and claim that’s why they can pray in school and force other children to physically watch and be part of their cult rituals. The problem arises when the first part of that amendment is ignored, and things like “one state under god” are bullied into writing. Then the first amendment is used to keep it there; how convenient.
One more…. article 11 of Treaty of Tripoli states, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”
America was meant to be a place of freedom, not just to do what you want but to be free from oppression by others views…like religion, any religion. I agree that muslims are getting infused into our society, but that’s only because of their scare tactics to burn, rape, pillage anyone who disparages them. Atheists stand up against all religion, because it is an ancient scare tactic that has been used for thousands and thousands of years…..do what says or will be handed out.
Why should radical religious organizations get to use tax dollars and public representatives to get their god etched into everything, but opposers can’t use the same dollar to stand up for what they believe in.
And on the last point, Atheists (not all of us)don’t hate jeezy chreezy, we just don’t believe he ever existed and his teachings are merely a fictitious story told to force prophecy, and gain control over the poor and illiterate. If there were such a man that could walk on water, turn water into wine, heal the sick, and die then come back to life 3 days later……..wouldn’t it have made it into some other history books, a non-inspired book. This supposedly happened in the middle east, and they are meticulous about historical recordings…along with the Greeks and Romans. There is not one mention of such a person, yet we have accurate and detailed writings of lesser men from Egypt and the middle east that predate him by thousands of years. We have actual lineage and places of resident for basic philosophers, but not one record of such a miraculous person.
The proper way to strengthen your belief in something is to studiously view the oposing side. If your views are correct, then your belief is strengthened…otherwise you may “wake-up” and wonder how you could believe such stories. This is done by all Atheists…..we’ve read the bible, koran, torrah, and studied religious teachings……it’s just that we found them wanting and a farce. There are so much more wonderous things in the universe to study besides an omniscient being that cares about the imaginary lines small mammals drew on the surface of a rock floating in space. Besides, surely the creator of the universe would be a scientist and would far more respect a person who uses scrtutinizing methods to analyze their world, instead of blind faith.
I appreciate your time for the discussion.
If interested, visit http://www.atheistnation.net
Yes, there are stupid posts like anywhere else, but this is a huge collection of thought provoking videos. Check out “jesus camp”, and seriously ask yourself if this is the way we want our children taught and growing up….I sincerely hope not.
September 7, 2007 at 5:35 am
And Athiesm is not a religion….there are no religious beliefs or practices. It is a philosophy…even if religious politicians try to cram that square peg into a round hole for some political agenda.
September 18, 2007 at 2:46 am
I’m truly interested in thoughts on some of the videos….’specially ‘jesus camp’.
November 27, 2007 at 2:50 pm
I’m so sick of this atheist ********. Yes, you heard me, I’m calling it ********. This nation was settled by people fleeing intolerance and prejudice against religion. Some of the founding father’s were deists, but MOST were Christian. Hamilton, Samuel Adams, Franklin became a Christian towards the end of his life, and Patrick Henry all believed in God. I am so tired of lies that are spread on the internet, based on outrageous generalities with no factual basis. If you don’t believe in God, fine, save your own soul when you die. In the meantime, however, lay off Christians. This is a Christian nation, 91% of us believe in the lord almighty. Go move somewhere else if you don’t like it. I’m sick of being attacked, berated, and insulted by these atheist ********. You’re right, you have it a lot more figured out than the rest of us, and you’re so much smarter than Christians. Is that what you want to hear? ****!
(Admin edit: I empathize with how you feel and I do not wish to delete your comment, but I need to edit the curse words out in order for your comment to comply with my commenting policy.)
November 29, 2007 at 9:12 pm
This is a typical response from theists; “Quit interfering with my right to close my eyes and ignore the world as it really is”. There are countless ways to deconstruct any religion…it’s way too easy for any atheist to argue against religion. What defies me is the ability of everyday/normal people to do logical things like stop at red lights, be on-time to appointments, recognize daylight savings time, etc., etc. yet choose to believe the world was created in 6 days, people live to be 900 years old (gen 5:),…I could go on and on….. you can quote as many red words as you want, but religion endorses prejudice, hatred, and discrimination. If it didn’t, you would worship Zeus, Mars, Apollo, Ra, etc. We’re all ATHEISTS, I just go one god further. What makes your god better than any of the other thousands that have come before it? Nothing, that’s what. If your “god” has a plan, then I could do whatever I want and that would, “be the plan”……what a joke. Take responsibility for your own actions…..and have a good life.
December 5, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Well said foxhole, I cant agree with you more on that.
Believers are rational when it comes to everyday tasks, but they just choose to switch off the rational thinking part in their brain when it comes to religious issues.
I don’t debate theists for the following reasons; some are smart and know that they have no evidence at all for what they believe in, yet still choose to believe no matter what others (like YE creationists) are just ignorant and/or stupid, there is no point of talking to them, they will only leave you frustrated.
“You cant wake up someone that is pretending to be asleep” an Indian proverb
August 22, 2008 at 3:57 pm
For something to be voluntary, the participants must know that they have the right to opt out.
For example, in most cases, schools pro-actively inform parents about upcoming sex-ed classes (in an effort to avoid treading on the values of conservative, Christian Americans), and give them the opportunity to send in the appropriate non-participation letter, or check a box on a form the school provides.
Texas schools (different from Florida) do no such thing for non-theist families when it comes to the national and state pledges. Heck, I just found out today that my six-year-old son recited the Texas pledge everyday last year, with the words “under God,” and I was born here. What about Buddhist immigrants? Even if they learn of the national pledge of allegiance, they are unlikely to know of their right to not participate, or how they would exercise it.
My point is, until schools inform parents of the pledge and their attendant rights, they are in effect forcing non-Christian children to participate in a Judeo-Christian ritual (voluntary schmoluntary). And that is just wrong. The tyranny of the majority here is frightening.
November 1, 2008 at 1:25 pm
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November 2, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Bible Verse, thanks; I’ll do my best within my real life priorities.