An atheist family is suing a New Jersey school district to have the words “Under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. On its face, the suit which was filed by the American Humanist Association seems silly in that the individual district didn’t write the pledge nor did they write the state law requiring the pledge of allegiance be made daily at school.
It seems so ridiculous that even the school’s attorney David Rubin. “All we are doing is abiding by requirements of state law, we and approximately 590 other school districts in the state,” he reportedly said. “If the group who’s brought this lawsuit questions the wisdom of that policy or the legality of it, we believe their arguments are much better directed to the state Legislature who’s imposed this requirement on us, rather than suing an individual school district on this matter.”
Rubin’s right. So why go after the district?
Two reasons. One, the family might just get an individual school district to back down from the lawsuit and pull the pledge to avoid paying Mr. Rubin’s fees throughout an elongated litigation. Secondly, the family knows that there’s no way to lobby the state legislature to reverse the law. Think about it, what legislator is going to make this their cause when there’s other important legislation like legalizing pot on the agenda.
So the family goes to the courts where they just need one stupid judge (and if you’re keeping score at home, New Jersey is packed with stupid judges) to overturn the law requiring schools to have the pledge made or maybe even have the words “Under God” be found unconstitutional if you find a wacky enough judge.
Hey, secularists have definitely learned that what you can’t get done through votes, just have a judge toss the votes. (See Prop 8)
Of course, I’d suspect the American Humanist Association is taking this on to get attention and to raise money. You know, those green rectangles with the words “In God We Trust” on them. I’d bet they’re not turning those away.
HT USA Today.
April 22, 2014 at 6:54 pm
Perhaps the atheist group has not read the First Amendment: "or prohibit the free exercise thereof."
April 23, 2014 at 8:41 pm
The district is getting sued because the pledge is led by faculty each day. When the words "under god" were added in the '50's, it rendered the recitation of the pledge unconstitutional. Why? Because not every kid in the classroom is of the christian faith. In this case, a child cried to his parents that he was told he "could leave the room" for the pledge, but said he was embarrassed to leave. But if the author insists on having a religious phrase on our currency, then let's vary the phrase and recognize other religions as well. One nation, under Allah? Under Horus? Under Zeus? How about just keep it simple and add a S: One nation, under gods.
April 27, 2014 at 3:09 am
Atheists are to be tolerated. Atheism is unconstitutional.
April 27, 2014 at 3:14 am
Jesus Christ the Son of God is a Person. Other gods are not persons. Jesus Christ became man that man could become the sons of God. Public officials including teachers are not owned by the state or government and are free to exercise their freedom of religion as citizens even at work. Prayer is between man and his God and the state needs to butt out..