9 States to Ban Pledge of Allegiance

ibowatjesusfeet

Cosmic Redneck
The following was reported by CNN.com:

Pledge ban set for March 10 in nine states
Monday, March 3, 2003 Posted: 2:30 PM EST (1930 GMT)


SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- A ruling by a U.S. appeals court could force millions of students to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance within days if the controversial decision is not overturned by a higher court, legal experts said Saturday.
Public schools with some 9.6 million students in nine states have until March 10 to stop reciting the pledge after the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals backed its prior ruling that the words "under God" in the pledge are a government endorsement of religion.
The nine states included in 9th Circuit are California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii.
If Friday's decision by the 9th Circuit Court is not stayed by the appellate court or by a U.S. Supreme Court order, it will take effect and may set up a challenge in the high court, the experts said.
"The 9th Circuit Court took the unusual step of saying they would not entertain any more requests for a rehearing," said Vikram Amar, a professor of law at the University of California's Hastings College of Law in San Francisco.
"I construe that as a message the 9th Circuit is done with this case and moving it in the direction of the Supreme Court."
However, if the high court does take up the 9th Circuit Court's decision, it may not result a dramatic final ruling in the controversial area of church and state separation, Amar told Reuters.
"It's hard to see more than a few votes on the Supreme Court to support what the 9th Circuit Court did," Amar said.
"The high court could reverse the 9th Circuit and have a very narrow ruling on 'religion-lite' that says opaque references like this to religion that we've lived with for a long time do not violate the establishment clause."
The words "under God" were added to the pledge in 1954 through a federal law amid a Cold War push to distinguish the United States from an atheistic Soviet Union.
Controversial ruling
Groups supporting the separation of church and state praised the San Francisco-based appellate court's decision, supporting a law suit filed in 2000 by Sacramento, California atheist Michael Newdow.
In his suit against the Elk Grove Unified School District, Newdow challenged the pledge, contending it coerced his elementary school-age daughter and claiming the pledge violated the separation of church and state because it discriminated against atheists.
The 9th Circuit Court's initial June 2002 ruling backing the claims touched off a furor across the country, where the famously liberal San Francisco court was accused of taking a hammer to a pillar of U.S. civic society and bowing to political correctness run amok.
President Bush called the decision "ridiculous," while the U.S. Senate voted 99-0 for a resolution expressing support for the pledge.
The Justice Department joined the White House, the U.S. Congress, State of California and others in asking the 9th Circuit to reconsider its initial ruling that schoolchildren could no longer recite the pledge because of the phrase "one nation under God."
The court's decision rejected the pleas and immediately drew criticism from U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.
"The Justice Department will spare no effort to preserve the rights of all our citizens to pledge allegiance to the American flag," Ashcroft said.
"We will defend the ability of Americans to declare their patriotism through the time-honored tradition of voluntarily reciting the pledge."

My Thoughts
Maybe I'm talking crazy here, but it seems to me that rulings like this one, and removing God from the pledge all together, are going to lead to the eventual downfall of the USA. All great "empires" eventually fall: The Ottoman, the Roman, the British, etc. and it seems were are doing everything we can to ensure that it happens.
 
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Poly

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Re: 9 States to Ban Pledge of Allegiance

Originally posted by ibowatjesusfeet
My Thoughts
Maybe I'm talking crazy here, but it seems to me that rulings like this one, and removing God from the pledge all together, are going to lead to the eventual downfall of the USA. All great "empires" eventually fal: The Ottoman, the Roman, the British, etc. and it seems were are doing everything we can to ensure that it happens.
Doesn't sound too crazy to me.
 

ibowatjesusfeet

Cosmic Redneck
America's greatest asset will be its greatest downfall: diversity. It seems that the courts are trying to please every belief and religion. As Jesus said (paraphrased): "A house divided against itself will fall."
 

ebenz47037

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This taken from this site: During the Supreme Court's 1996–1997 term, 27 of the 28 rulings reviewed by the Supreme Court were reversed. Since the 1998–1999 session, the 9th Circuit has seen 26 of its cases reviewed by the Supreme Court overturned or vacated by a unanimous decision of the nine justices.

Frome what I've heard on talk radio, the ruling on the pledge of allegiance will be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. I pray for the justices to have wisdom when considering this.
 

sweetangelhun

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i think that the people who argue the words "under God" should be taken out of the pledge are crazy. it has been this way for years, and i know some who are atheists and they still say the words, simply because it is tradition. i am a Christian and i don't even say the pledge every morning at school. i choose to spend the time in prayer, thanking God for the beginning of the day and my safety and various other items that cross my mind. it definitely starts my day off with the right attitude, :thumb:
 

lucybelle

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I hereby ban the following states from my kingdom:
California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii.
 

mingus

The Sweetness
Originally posted by lucybelle
I hereby ban the following states from my kingdom:
California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska and Hawaii.

Sorry but you cant do that. you see, you may be a princess but, I happen to be "The Sweetness" and as everyone knows Sweetness's rule even over kings. You have no say here, now BE GONE!!
 

ebenz47037

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Really, lucybelle? I thought California was going to fall off the United States or (according to some people I know back there) become part of Mexico again. :D
 

ibowatjesusfeet

Cosmic Redneck
I started the thread, so I suppose that makes me the Big Cheese. However, I hereby abdicate my position as high Big Cheese of this thread to Mingus AND Lucybelle, you two can fight it out to see who gets the coveted #1 position of this thread (and this thread only).
 

ebenz47037

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Originally posted by ibowatjesusfeet
I started the thread, so I suppose that makes me the Big Cheese. However, I hereby abdicate my position as high Big Cheese of this thread to Mingus AND Lucybelle, you two can fight it out to see who gets the coveted #1 position of this thread (and this thread only).

LOL! Knight, Ibow thinks he's in charge of something! :D :p
 
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