Man who sued to stop pledge explains reasons for suit

SF Chronicle via AP ^ | 6/26/02 | STEFANIE FRITH

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow said Wednesday he was trying to restore the Pledge of Allegiance to its pre-1954 version because no one should be forced to worship a religion in which they don't believe.

But if the threatening messages on his answering machine are any indication, the American public is not thanking him.

[He Rides A White Horse]

I've said all I wanted to him and others like him. There is no discourse, debating..........there is nothing to be done with them. They will simply run roughshod over your rights, then squawk over and over again, "Gee, you haven't proven to me that I've been doing these things, so you are wrong. We'll just keep doing it, and then the next time something like this happens, it's "Gee, you haven't proven to me that I've been doing these things........"

......they are beneath contempt, and there is no bargaining with them.

[pgkdan]

He says he feels like he's being treated like he's not a real American...that's because he's not. He's probably gay, definately atheist, and politcally and culturally as astute as a cucumber. I hope he feels the heat for this for a long time to come. I don't mean death threats and the like, but if I lived in his community or worked with him he'd definately be personna non grata. I hope he's picketed and heckled everywhere he goes. He's imposed his 'beliefs' on the rest of us...I hope someone repays the favor.

[Dimensio]

Gee, I've never been asking for proof that I've been doing these things. I've been asking for evidence that anyone at all has been doing these things.

I do hope that you were referring to others in your posting rather than mischaracterizing people like myself.

[Dimensio]

What on earth makes you think that he is a homosexual?

[pgkdan]

Uh-huh. He had his two year old daughter by being artificially inseminated.

Is it your contention that there are no gay men raising children in this country?

[BikerNYC]

He's imposed his 'beliefs' on the rest of us...

No he hasn't. If anyone has, it's the judges who decided the case. Focus on the judges, the ones who make the decisions, not the people who ask the judges to make the decisions.

Why don't you blame the court clerk who stamped and filed the lawsuit with the court in the first place.

[Spiff]

It damn sure does! You have the right to be religious,but you do NOT have the right to shove your religious views down anyone else's throat.

Nor you do you or anyone else have the right to shove your irreligion down our throats. No one ever said that you or any other stinking atheists had the right to never be offended. I get offended all the time but you don't see me dragging my petty personal pet peeves into court to try to get a decision that would force everyone to change their behavior so that I would no longer be offended.

[MotleyGirl70]

Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow

Hang 'em high!

[Dimensio]

So are you saying that not mentioning a god at all in the Pledge of Allegiance is exactly the same as saying that there are no gods?

[pgkdan]

Of course the judges are responsible for their decision...but this clown has made a quest out of filing suits to remove God from the public sphere. He HAS imposed his beliefs on the rest of us and it's time for the so-called silent majority to stop being silent.

[MotleyGirl70]

Sacramento

Big shocker there. Just another California scum bag.

[DJ88]

"DJ88, tell me 'pitiful' point I am arguing? That the likes of Dimensio deserved to be ignored? As he sits there and confirms every single thing I am saying about him and his friends..........?"

Sorry....that was not my intention when I included your name in my post. I was agreeing with you. But you know what? At this point, you have to realize something. Dimensio is not going to stop arguing with you about this subject. Never. Neither will any of the others like sneakypete, etc ad nauseam. So, if I were you (which I am not) I would just ignore them. Because you see, this ruling will never stand. Not ever. ;-)

[He Rides A White Horse]

Very well DJ88...........I've got other things to do. Like writing to our representatives like Mr Robinson is exhorting us to do on another thread.

Regards.

[Spiff]

So are you saying that not mentioning a god at all in the Pledge of Allegiance is exactly the same as saying that there are no gods?

No. Learn to read and use the brain that God blessed you with.

[BikerNYC]

You tell me how HE has imposed his beliefs on the rest of us. No, it is the judges who have imposed his beliefs on the rest of us.

I ask my Congressman to change a law in my favor. The Congressman convinces others in Congress to change the law and the law is changed. I've imposed my belief on everyone? Or has the Congress?

[I_Love_My_Husband]

I haven't seen it, but I love it now that I have. Do you have a link for it?

[DJ88]

"Uh, no, the ruling was that it cannot be uttered as a function of the school. That means that a teacher cannot say it as part of an official public school event, however it does not prevent a student, a teacher or the school principal from uttering it on their own time even while in a public school building. It certainly wouldn't be illegal for me or for anyone else to go to a public park and say "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of American, and to the republic for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Um....I've never seen anyone that I know of walking around muttering the Pledge of Allegience to themselves. Sure, you could do it as an individual, Dimensio, but not in a PUBLIC GATHERING. That is whas has this country up in arms. One athiest and two idiotic judges have taken away the right to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in GROUP GATHERINGS (where it is NORMALLY said) and you still don't get it?

I'm done arguing with you, because you just don't want to see the crux of the this whole debate. It's not about what an individual can do, it's about what a large group of people in 9 states can no longer do under this ruling.

[Dimensio]

We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, of Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.

Actually, the motto was adopted in the 1950s during an uprising against communism and an attempt to create yet another criteria for demonizing those "godless commies".

I'm aware that the phrase itself originated in the 1800s and that it was applied to coin currency during the Civil War, but it was not adopted as an "official" motto until 1956.

[DJ88]

I LOVE IT!!!! PASSING IT ON! ;-)