Mass. justices review Pledge of Allegiance

[struggle4progress]

G. Jeffrey MacDonald
Religion News Service
7:03 p.m. EDT September 4, 2013
At issue is whether the phrase "one nation under God" violates Mass. constitution.

... Attorney David Niose, representing anonymous atheist parents, told justices that atheist children "are denied meaningful participation in this patriotic exercise" because the language refers to God.

"Children every morning are pledging their national unity and loyalty in an indoctrinating format, in a way that that validates God belief as truly patriotic and actually invalidates atheism," said Niose, president of the American Humanist Association.

Pledge advocates hit back. No one has to say the pledge, they noted, citing a court ruling that confirms the pledge must always be voluntary. What's more, they said, reference to "one nation under God" does not necessarily affirm theistic belief.

"It's not an affirmation of religion?" asked Associate Justice Barbara Lenk ...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/04/massachusetts-pledge-of-allegiance/2768071/

[DreamGypsy]

1. "It's the founding thing..."

"It's a statement of our political philosophy," answered Geoffrey Bok, attorney for the defendants. "It's the founding thing upon which our country was founded. Our rights did not come from the king or the tsar or the queen. They come from something higher."

K, dude. One nation, under some sort of evolved genetic predisposition, with Liberty (at least for the wealthy) and Justice (if you're not 'colored, female, non-X-tian, or gay') for almost all.

[struggle4progress]

2. And what a long strange trip it's had: revered by American rightwingers (who loathe

socialism), the Pledge was written by a socialist minister (who did not mention "God" in his text) as part of a magazine scheme to sell flags

[AtheistCrusader]

3. And here I thought the Constitution was the supreme law of the land.

I want my money back.

[LostOne4Ever]

4. Mmmm

Can someone help me find where it says the powers of our government are derived from a god in the constitution?

I can't find it.

I can find where it says:

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]US Constitution[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Can someone help me out here? If I didn't know better I would say its deriving it's power from the people!

[King_Klonopin]

5. This "under God" stuff was shoved into the pledge

during the birth of right-wing, communist paranoia,
demagogue McCarthy era of the 1950's.

To be clear, I am a believer. A practicing Catholic.
I believe it is clear that the Constitution forbids any
kind of this nonsense. Thomas Jefferson would have
a cow if he saw it.

References to any god should not be connected to
anything regarding the State or government. Period.
(money, pledges etc.) "Render unto Caesar what is
Caesar's and unto God what is God's" is pretty clear
to me from the religious viewpoint as well.

God is not impressed by our currency, nor by the
vain, religious grandstanding of our politicians.

[cbayer]

7. +1

[cbayer]

6. I would love to see them remove it and for other states to follow suit.