4th Circuit Court upholds Virginia's Pledge law

[Modem Butterfly]

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15653

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that the pledge is a patriotic exercise, not an affirmation of religion similar to a prayer.

“Undoubtedly, the pledge contains a religious phrase, and it is demeaning to persons of any faith to assert that the words ‘under God’ contain no religious significance,” Judge Karen Williams wrote for the panel in Myers v. Loudoun County Public Schools. “The inclusion of those two words, however, does not alter the nature of the pledge as a patriotic activity.”

SNIP

“The problem is that young schoolchildren are quite likely to view the pledge as affirming the existence of God and national subordination to God,” Remes said. “The reference to God is one of the few things in the pledge that children understand.”

Myers belongs to the Anabaptist Mennonite faith, a Christian sect opposed to the mingling of church and state. He challenged the pledge law because of that belief and his fear that Loudoun County public schools were indoctrinating his sons with a “God and country” world view.

“The combination of God and country approaches a civic religion that is in competition with my religion,” Myers said.

[ET Awful]

1. It's so much harder for the fundies to attack when it's a Christian

making the argument instead of an atheist. On what basis do they attack him?

I like the argument.

[Modem Butterfly]

2. Probably that he's a closet atheist

They're nothing if not original.

:eyes:

I grew up as an atheist and I learned to just not say the words "under god". I always liked the idea of "one nation, indivisible" better.