Freak!
Posted on 01/14/2005 4:58:45 PM PST by ChristianDefender
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An atheist who tried to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance lost a bid Friday to bar the saying of a Christian prayer at President Bush's inauguration.
U.S. District Judge John Bates said Michael Newdow's claim should be denied because he already had filed and lost a similar lawsuit in a federal appeals court in California last year.
Bates also said Newdow had no legal standing to pursue his claim. Even if Newdow could show he had suffered injury because he was offended in hearing the prayer, Bates said the court did not have authority to stop the president from inviting clergy to give a religious prayer at the ceremony.
In a telephone interview from his home in Sacramento, Newdow said Bates had written a thoughtful opinion "but he came to the wrong conclusion." He said he planned to appeal.
Bates wrote, "The court's grave concerns about its power to issue an injunction against the president, which is the only method of redressing Newdow's alleged injuries, places in peril Newdow's standing to bring this action."
Even if he were to rule on the merits of Newdow's claims, Bates said, Newdow was unlikely to prevail. The judge relied heavily on a 1983 Supreme Court ruling that prayers at opening sessions of legislatures and other public bodies do not violate the separation of church and state.
Newdow argued that saying a Christian prayer at the Jan. 20 ceremony would violate the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs.
Attorneys representing Bush and his inaugural committee argued that prayers have been widely accepted at inaugurals for more than 200 years and that Bush's decision to have a minister recite the invocation was a personal choice the court had no power to prevent.
Newdow gained widespread publicity two years ago after winning his pledge case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which ruled that public schools violated the separation of church and state by having students mention God.
The Supreme Court later threw out the ruling, saying Newdow could not lawfully sue because he did not have custody of his elementary school-age daughter, on whose behalf he sued. Newdow refiled the pledge suit in Sacramento federal court this month, naming eight other parents and children.
Newdow is both an emergency room physician and a lawyer and has represented himself in both legal actions.
He be better off spending his efforts in trying to put his family back together again.
Amen, sistah!
Is this idiot saying that hearing the prayer would force him to accept unwanted religious beliefs? He must have a very small weak mind if thats the case.
1 : a mania for great or grandiose performance
2 : a delusional mental disorder that is marked by infantile feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur
But, but does that mean America was founded upon Christian beliefs? Oh, my! We can't have that admitted - and in public - and by the court!
/s
Freak!
Good news. It looks as if Newdow has been coming up with a whole lot of bupkis in the courts lately. Time for him to fade away.
Even if Newdow were forced to listen to such a prayer he would not be forced into accepting the religious beliefs associated with the prayer. I hope he applies better logic on his day job in the ER than he does in the courtroom.
I don't believe I'd read before that this guy is an ER physician. Yikes!
One Nation "under clouds" just doesn`t quite cut it. Newdow should realize that for those non-religious such as him, "under God" can also be considered as a euphemism for hope, and what he is doing is denying that. Hope is what drives life, and when you deny that, there is none. This is a man who cannot find love and hope in his own life and has made the mistake of confronting it when he should accept it.
How could a man without hope be an EMT? I bet there's a heck of a story there if one only had the patience to dig for it.
;->
The best news I heard all day!
Yeah, maybe someone will write a book about him. I can't wait.
Hahahaha...
Just understand him, he's an "atheist"... he doesnt believe in the existence of God... he's not of this world nor of heaven's...
Unless he humbles himself
***by the way, we need to start charging these useless people court charges for spending our tax dollars on this crap***
PING...
PROPER SPENDING OF FEDERAL'S FUND
No, really. I have known a good many people who claimed to be atheists, but when I have coaxed them to talk to me, it turned out they were angry at God for some reason. "You don't exist and I hate You!"
I'd like to know why an EMT would be an atheist. I wonder what battle he lost or what happened to him, to make him lose his faith.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.