Free Republic

New battle lines are being drawn in the US by a right-wing Christian movement set on what it sees as its divine mission - to spread its beliefs and messages using political power. So what is Christian nationalism and why is it flourishing now?/... ...God and country is one of the oldest and most influential currents in US politics. It ebbs and flows throughout American history. It's at high tide now because conservative Christians feel they're on the losing end of demographic and cultural changes. .... ...What's different now about such Christian political activism is that the country is no...

The official meeting of the Republican National Convention (RNC) delegates Monday morning emphasized the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance after a committee and a caucus meeting omitted the words from the pledge during the Democratic National Convention (DNC). The omission of “under God” from the two relatively minor events sparked a backlash from Republicans, including President Trump, and a flurry of fact-checks pointing out that in the four major broadcasts each night Democrats did use the words “under God.” But Republicans have still said the omission by the individual speakers — there was no party directive on...

At least two caucus meetings at this week’s Democratic National Convention began with recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance that omitted the phrase “under God.” Two videos posted online — one of the person kicking off a Muslim meeting, and the other starting an LGBT meeting — showed the Pledge being recited incompletely.

Democrat caucuses dropped the phrase "under God" while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance during the DNC's Democratic National Convention meetings this week.At least two DNC caucuses were found to have omitted the reference to God, according to reports.

The Democratic majority leader last week opened a pro-forma session of the House of Representatives with the Pledge of Allegiance – well, most of it. The U.S. House of Representatives is technically in session while its members are back home campaigning. So, every other day or so, to satisfy a constitutional requirement, they gavel a session in, say the prayer and the Pledge, then close the session. Last week it fell to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland to do the honors. Hoyer:" The chair will lead the House in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag...

A woman introducing Hillary Clinton at a campaign event conspicuously removed the words “under God” from the end of the Pledge of Allegiance, prompting the Democratic primary front-runner to laugh. Susan Shin Angulo, a member of the Camden County Board of Freeholders, began to say the phrase at a campaign rally in Blackwood, New Jersey, on Wednesday, but caught herself in the act and skipped over it. “Only Hillary can bring us together as one nation, un- — indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” Ms. Angulo said.The crowd broke out into applause and cheers. Mrs. Clinton nodded and laughed.

A group representing atheists has decided to end its attempt to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. The American Humanist Association allowed its 45-day window to appeal a Monmouth County Superior Court judge's ruling to pass, according to a report on APP.com. The group didn't say why it chose to stop its legal challenge. The judge had tossed the group's lawsuit, which demanded the phrase be taken out of the pledge recited each morning in the Matawan-Aberdeen school district. Superior Court Judge David Bauman said the reference to God in the Pledge is more of a...

A New Jersey high school student and her family have entered the ongoing legal battle over a lawsuit by an atheist group seeking to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Samantha Jones, a senior at Highland Regional High School in Blackwood, and her family filed an official response to a lawsuit by the American Humanist Association. "If anyone wants to remain silent, that is their right. But it is not their right to silence me," said Jones in a statement. "When I stand up, put my hand over my heart and say the Pledge of Allegiance, I am...

Atheist parents and students wanted the Pledge of Allegiance banned in schools in Massachusetts because it contains the phrase "under God," but the state's highest court has ruled that reciting it does not violate the commonwealth's constitution or laws. "We hold that the recitation of the pledge, which is entirely voluntary, violates neither the Constitution nor the statute [which prohibits discrimination in Massachusetts public school education] ...," the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said Friday in Doe v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District. "Simply being offended by something does not make it a violation of the Massachusetts Constitution," said Senior Legal Counsel...

BOSTON, May 9 (UPI) -- An atheist Massachusetts couple failed to prove their children had been harmed by the words "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, the state's highest court ruled Friday. The couple, identified only as "John and Jane Doe," argued their children's rights were violated by the voluntary recitation of the pledge -- including "Under God" -- in the public schools in the Acton-Boxborough district. But the Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously they failed to make their case, saying they had not proved the children had been subjected to bullying, ostracism or any other punishment or mistreatment...

The Pledge of Allegiance does not discriminate against atheists and can be recited at the start of the day in public schools, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled Friday. The Supreme Judicial Court said the words “under God” in the pledge reflect patriotic practice, not a religious one. They acknowledged that the wording has a “religious tinge” but said it is fundamentally patriotic and voluntary. The court was ruling in a 2010 lawsuit filed by an atheist family from Acton who claimed that the daily recitation of the pledge in classrooms violated their three children’s equal protection rights under the state constitution,...

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States originated on Columbus Day, 1893. It contained no reference to Almighty God, until in New York City on April 22, 1951, the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the Pledge of Allegiance as recited at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by the addition of the words “under God” after the words “one nation”. The adoption of this resolve by the Supreme Board of Directors had the effect of an...

......."Today, to mark the anniversary, Twitter is arguing about why President Obama didn't say the words "under God" in his videotaped recitation of the speech. God bless America."......

For the moment let's dispense with the discussion about whether some of these people deserved to be included, and keep the focus on those two words. As you see, in the mashup version, the words "under God" are included, delivered by Jimmy Carter. According to this story from Washington's WMAL Radio, all the participants when reading their full versions included "under God," with the exception of Obama. So what's that? The explanation from Obama's people is that he was working from an earlier draft of the text, known as the "Nicolay copy," which did not include "under God." Lincoln added...

Chris Plante at WMAL Radio in Washington reported on his show Tuesday that President Obama joined a cast of 61 "noted lawmakers, politicians, news anchors and celebrities, including every living President, in reciting the Gettysburg Address" for PBS star Ken Burns, who made "The Civil War" documentary series. Everyone else delivered the address as Lincoln had written it, including the phrase, "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom." But in his version of the address, President Obama omitted the words "under God."

Washington DC talk show host Chris Plante reported today that Barack Obama omitted the words "under God" from the Gettysburg Address when reciting the great speech for a Ken Burns documentary. Burns had filmed all living presidents as well as various Hollywood personalities and luminaries to pay homage to the speech which was delivered by Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago, today. Plante broke the story on Washington DC talk radio station WMAL on his mid-morning program, "The Chris Plante Show."

Madness. Your taxpayer dollars at work to advance Islamic culture: a culture, by its very nature, designed to destroy all others. They are at war with us. Would school students in 1944 have recited the Pledge in German? Mark Steyn discussed this very thing when we were fighting an Arabic public school in Brooklyn here in New York City, in my interview with him. "It shows how we mischaracterized, we willfully misunderstand Islam. Yes, on the face of it, yes, Arabic is a language. In a sense there would be no difference between opening a foreign language school -- a...

Fury is brewing at Rocky Mountain High School, in Colorado, after a multicultural student group were encouraged to recite the Pledge of Allegiance over the loudspeaker in Arabic - replacing ´one nation under God´ with ´one nation under Allah´. Following Monday´s pledge, Principal Tom Lopez has been inundated with complaints from outraged parents concerned that saying the Pledge in any language other than English is unpatriotic. Standing by his controversial decision, Principal Lopez has said that despite the irate telephone calls and emails, he is not in any way or form trying to push an

Whoops. I'm sure the President just made a mistake and the words "under God" just happened to be missing in the pledge of allegiance. During the pledge of allegiance during the inauguration yesterday, the words "under God" were removed by the President. Introducing the President, Myrlie Evers-Williams read a flowery version of the pledge: “We now stand beneath the shadow of the nation’s capital, who’s golden dome reflects the unity and democracy of one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all...” Of course this isn't the first time that the Democratic party has removed God from their speeches. During...

More than any Democratic president since Franklin Roosevelt, Barack Obama in his writings and speeches has worked out an impressive interpretation of American history that culminates in modern liberalism. It also culminates, not incidentally, in him. As a writer, Obama’s strength is telling tales, and his story of America mixes together social, intellectual, and political history. It begins and keeps contending with the Founding– with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He tries to tell a new story about the country that acknowledges, and then contextualizes, traditional views in ways that are meant to be reassuring but that point...