Free Republic

Why do so many sit aside, holding their anger inside, as activist secular organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) assault our religious expression? Why do so many do nothing, as activist secular judges rule in favor of these anti-Christian organizations? Why do we stay uninvolved? We have a constitutional right to express our religion. Don’t allow these groups to take that right away under the disguise of a fictional “Separation of Church and State” clause that does not even exist. The answer to the question posed above may lie in the fact that many people don’t know...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — An advertisement for a new translation of the Bible by the nation's largest publisher of the book is gathering moss at the headquarters of Rolling Stone magazine. Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, is in the midst of an aggressive advertising blitz for Today's New International Version, or TNIV. The new Bible, which contains both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is to be on store shelves in early February. Doug Lockhart, Zondervan's executive vice president of marketing, said Wednesday that research by his Grand Rapids company indicates the TNIV would hold particular appeal...

WASHINGTON - Ailing Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist showed he still had some legalistic punch yesterday, squashing an atheist's attempt to knock the traditional prayer out of President Bush's inauguration. Rehnquist, 80, is scheduled to swear in Bush for his second term today; he has not been seen in public since October, when he announced he is battling thyroid cancer. If Rehnquist cannot make it today, 84-year-old Associate Justice John Paul Stevens will pinch-hit for him. Rehnquist set the stage for the swearing-in, however, by rejecting a suit by atheist Michael Newdow to cancel the prayer. Without comment, Rehnquist...

Rejecting an atheist's request, two justices declined yesterday to have the Supreme Court step in and bar the saying of a prayer at President Bush's inauguration. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist had first denied Michael Newdow's contention that a prayer at today's ceremony would violate the Constitution by forcing Newdow to accept unwanted religious beliefs. Newdow later filed an appeal with Justice John Paul Stevens, who turned it down. Rehnquist also rejected Newdow's request that the chief justice withdraw from the case because he was to administer the oath of office for Bush's second term. Newdow argued that Rehnquist had...

WASHINGTON — An atheist lost his bid Wednesday to have the Supreme Court bar the saying of a prayer at President Bush's inauguration. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist denied Michael Newdow's claim that a prayer at Thursday's ceremony would violate the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs. In so doing, Rehnquist also rejected Newdow's request to recuse himself from the case because he is scheduled to swear in Bush. Newdow had argued that Rehnquist had become a willing fixture in a government ceremony "infused with sectarian Christian religion" and thus had a conflict of interest. Rehnquist's order...

Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, specializing in constitutional law, said today that Michael Newdow’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to bar clergy prayer at Thursday’s inauguration is a legally flawed strategy destined to fail. The ACLJ said it is preparing an amicus brief for the Supreme Court urging the high court to reject Newdow’s challenge. Newdow’s appeal to the Supreme Court comes after two courts – a federal district court and a federal appeals court – rejected Newdow’s challenge. In addition to asking the high court for an injunction to stop the prayer, Newdow...

Rolling Stone magazine rejected an ad from the nation's largest Bible publisher, USA Today reports Tuesday. Though the message doesn't mention God, it does tout publisher Zondervan's new Bible translation aimed at "spiritually intrigued 18-to-34-year-olds." "The magazine rejected Zondervan's Bible ad just weeks before its scheduled run date, citing an unwritten policy against accepting ads containing religious messages," the paper noted. USA Today reported that Zondervan executives say the entertainment magazine was key in its $1 million campaign to reach young adults who have rarely, if ever, seen Bible ads before. Surveys show that 53 percent of this age group...

I have seen (received) complaints here because we talk at each other but don't do anything. Well, here's your chance everybody. Mr. Newdow states his case and INVITES COMMENTS. Be respectful, informed and literate....Let's keep the high ground, Just because he is a horse's rear doesn't mean we have to tell him so.

We worked late into the evening last night and early this morning preparing our brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the Inaugural Prayer case. Dr. Michael Newdow will be filing his petition this morning with the Supreme Court, asking them to stay any Inaugural Prayer activities that would take place. We have filed our brief relying on the historical argument that prayer has been included in every Inaugural since President Washington. We have also utilized the language from Justice O’Connor’s concurring opinion in the Pledge of Allegiance case. Dr. Newdow was the plaintiff in that case...

WASHINGTON - The atheist who tried to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to bar the saying of a prayer at President Bush's inauguration. In an emergency filing, Michael Newdow argued that a prayer at Thursday's ceremony would violate the Constitution by forcing him to accept unwanted religious beliefs. His request has been rejected by two lower courts. Newdow also asked that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who is designated as the justice to hear emergency appeals for the D.C. Circuit, recuse himself because he is scheduled to swear in Bush and...

A California atheist is taking his quest to block clergymen from publicly praying during President Bush's inauguration Thursday to the U.S. Supreme Court.     Michael Newdow, a lawyer from Sacramento, Calif., will file an appeal with the high court today seeking an injunction to thwart Mr. Bush's plans to have two pastors say prayers during his inauguration.     The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected Mr. Newdow's emergency request for an injunction late Friday, hours after a federal judge also denied his request.  "I expect [the Supreme Court will] deny that, too. But it's violating the Constitution,"...

Forty to 60 humanists, atheists, nontheists, secular Jews and ethical culturalists began an emergency summit yesterday at a Dupont Circle hotel to discuss strategy over how to fight President Bush's faith-based initiatives planned for his second term. "The situation is now as bad as we'll ever see it," said Roy Speckhardt, deputy director of the American Humanist Association (AHA), a conglomeration of 80 grass-roots activist groups that promote humanism, a philosophy of living without supernatural influences. Mr. Speckhardt said this year's so-called "inauguration summit" dwarfs a similar 1981 meeting at the University of Maryland after Ronald Reagan won the White...

Pledge Dad sues to ban ministers at oath Published 1/14/2005 2:07 PM WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Atheist Michael Newdow wants a U.S. district judge to ban prayers by clergy at the president's inauguration ceremony, the Washington Post said Friday. Newdow, a California doctor and lawyer who sued to have the words "under God" stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance in 2003, told the court that prayers offered by two Protestant ministers during the Jan. 20 ceremony when the president takes his oath of office would violate his constitutional rights. "This is like the Super Bowl, the Olympics. It's a...

Rewriting the First Amendment by the ACLU The ACLU's crusade against religion should be no secret to anyone. The organization is well know for its stand against any signs of religion in government buildings or practices. But it seems when it comes the U.S. constitution, the ACLU has taken matters into it own hands, well, at least as it sites the first amendment on its web page section dealing with free speech. Here is how the first amendment appears to the ACLU on its web site. (link Here) "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the...

Anyone know? He's said on H&C that he's not Christian, and I'm pretty sure he said he's not Jewish a different time.

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...

(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, specializing in constitutional law, said today it is pleased a federal district court upheld prayer at the Presidential inauguration and rejected a request from Michael Newdow for a preliminary injunction that would have barred prayer from the January 20th event. Newdow is expected to file an emergency appeal with a federal appeals court and the ACLJ is preparing legal briefs to file at the appellate level....

The idiot Mike Newdow that tried to get Bush not to use a bible to get sworn in, or use a prayer during is inauguration has been thrown out, as Fox news reports. Basically, the justices said that Bush would not be able to control his own inauguration and its not up to censor his speech. They also said (which i love) - if you don’t want to hear it - don’t watch it.

Now Michael Newdow is offended by prayer at the presidential inauguration.... his legal argument is not far-fetched. What ought to grab the attention of those who would prefer to allow religion in the public square is that earlier court decisions provide the grounds for Mr. Newdow to make a plausible legal case.

A federal judge is scheduled to rule today on a California atheist's lawsuit seeking to bar clergy-led prayer during President Bush's second inauguration next week. Judge John D. Bates yesterday heard oral arguments in the case during a two-hour hearing before a packed courtroom in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Michael Newdow, the 50-year old Sacramento, Calif., lawyer who filed the suit against President Bush last month, took part in the proceedings by telephone. Outside the courthouse, representatives of religious groups protested Mr. Newdow's suit. The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, executive director of the Christian Defense Coalition,...