under god still in..

[Jim]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/14/scotus.p...e.ap/index.html (http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/06/14/scotus.pledge.case.ap/index.html)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court at least temporarily preserved the phrase "one nation, under God," in the Pledge of Allegiance, ruling Monday that a California atheist could not challenge the patriotic oath while sidestepping the broader question of separation of church and state.

[Winetalk.com]

if Gopd exists - the statement is correct,
if one can't prove that God doesn't exist-
it's his problem
;-)))

[Mike AI]

Glad Supreme Court ruled this way.

The guy who filed the lawsuit is a real tool. I better watch what I say, because he may read this and sue me for slander!

[Almighty Colin]

I don't think it matters that much and I'm an atheist. Let the Christians be happy, I guess.

Related.

Here's something interesting about "In God We Trust". The phrase first appeared on the two cent piece approved by congress in 1864. In 1907 the phrase was omitted from the new gold coin and there was a public uproar over it. As a result, a law was passed in 1908 making "In God We Trust" mandatory on all coins which the phrase had previously appeared. In 1954, congress passed the act in the news this week which added "Under God" to the pledge of allegiance. A year later, In 1955 new legislation was approved in which the phrase "In God We Trust" must appear on all currency and coins. Then in 1956, a new act made "In God We Trust" the US national motto. Prior to that, the nation's motto which had been penned by Thomas Jefferson and is familar to us all was "E Pluribus Unum" meaning "One from Many". Some people say that there are now two national mottos.

It's interesting that this legislation was passing in the mid 1950s . Why the mid 1950s? It was related to the Communist scare. Those who wanted to Hopefully add God into the national motto and the pledge contrasted "Godless communism" with America. This all happened immediately after McCarthy fell out of favor though the first attempts to make these changes dated from a few years prior. I don't know if the same legislation would have passed five years later.

So much of the history of the second half of the twentieth century is intertwined with the Cold War. Today, we often forget that. We too often speak of events in, say, the Middle East at the time without considering the impact of the Cold War on the region and the epic struggle and importance of it.







Last edited by Colin at Jun 14 2004, 11:57 AM

[Almighty Colin]

The motto on the Continental Dollar was "Mind Your Business". Let's go back to that one. Thanks to Mr. Franklin.