A few interesting items in the news this morning. The supreme court of Massachusetts will hear a case on Wednesday that seeks the removal of “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. The case stems from a family of a student that feels that those words violate separation of
church and state.
This has been tried before and lost. It does appear to offend atheists and other religions that believe in more than one god. Should be an interesting case. I think it was inevitable, since the whole issue of prayer in schools. I am surprised it has taken so long. The words “Under God” were not in the original pledge, but were added later. Perhaps we need to go back to the original.
It could open Pandora’s Box. All our currency has “In God
We Trust” printed on it. Those words also appear on many symbols and logos of the government. I am sure we will see a case brought up soon about it. Then there are other symbols on currency that refer to God. It would be a major
undertaking to replace all the currency now in circulation.
This goes back to the Supreme Court ruling on prayer in school in 1962. I think many people
misunderstand the ruling. The Supreme Court ruled that public schools couldn’t conduct religious
observances such as prayer. This was based on the First Amendment, which states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...” If you want to see pray in school, attend school just prior to final exams or a major sporting event. Of course, the law never applied to private schools. Anyone is allowed to pray in schools, as long as the school is not sponsoring it and it does not disrupt others.
So often, I hear people say that all the present day evils are a result of ending pray in school. That
is pure nonsense. I guess these people feel it is the school’s responsibility to teach prayer. Some even go so far as to say that we should reinstitute prayer in school to solve all our problems. The problem with that is trying to find a prayer that Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, and all other religions can agree on.
church and state.
This has been tried before and lost. It does appear to offend atheists and other religions that believe in more than one god. Should be an interesting case. I think it was inevitable, since the whole issue of prayer in schools. I am surprised it has taken so long. The words “Under God” were not in the original pledge, but were added later. Perhaps we need to go back to the original.
It could open Pandora’s Box. All our currency has “In God
We Trust” printed on it. Those words also appear on many symbols and logos of the government. I am sure we will see a case brought up soon about it. Then there are other symbols on currency that refer to God. It would be a major
undertaking to replace all the currency now in circulation.
This goes back to the Supreme Court ruling on prayer in school in 1962. I think many people
misunderstand the ruling. The Supreme Court ruled that public schools couldn’t conduct religious
observances such as prayer. This was based on the First Amendment, which states that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...” If you want to see pray in school, attend school just prior to final exams or a major sporting event. Of course, the law never applied to private schools. Anyone is allowed to pray in schools, as long as the school is not sponsoring it and it does not disrupt others.
So often, I hear people say that all the present day evils are a result of ending pray in school. That
is pure nonsense. I guess these people feel it is the school’s responsibility to teach prayer. Some even go so far as to say that we should reinstitute prayer in school to solve all our problems. The problem with that is trying to find a prayer that Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, and all other religions can agree on.
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