Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Michael Czeiszperger <czei AT webperformanceinc.com>]

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3552556.htm

As you probably already know, the 9th circuit court ruled that the phrase 
"under God" that was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 is 
unconstitutional.

There's already been a lot written about the decision, most of it against, 
but 
most of it falls into only a few different areas:

1. The country is Christian, so majority rules and everyone else should just 
learn to live with it

2. The founding fathers never intended to create a purely secular government.

The case was brought by an atheist father in CA whose daughter, while not 
required to recite the pledge, was forced to listen to the phrase "under God" 
every day, a situation that I may be in some day.

While it is true that atheist children frequently see references to God, 
there 
is a difference between seeing a church or someone wearing a T-Shirt, and 
seeing and hearing every child in a public school affirm the existence of God 
every day.

While I'm sure most of the children forced to recite the pledge daily never 
even listen to the words as some point, I wonder what the reaction would be 
if religious children were forced to listen to "One nation, in a world with 
no God" every day?

This issue is going to be huge, both in Congress and in the upcoming 
elections, so get ready for a slew of coverage.

-- 
Michael Czeiszperger
czei AT webperformanceinc.com