Why We Are Under God

Michael Newdow is at it again. This is the same man who attempted last year to have the official Pledge of Allegiance declared unconstitutional. While his suit was upheld by the 9th US Circuit (big surprise there,) his suit was rejected by the US Supreme Court on the grounds that, as a non-custodial parent, he was not of the proper legal standing to bring the suit and thusly protect his child. (He has since refiled the suit on behalf of two other custodial parents.)

Now comes Newdow trying to have the words removed "In God We Trust" from US currency. This time he feels that accepting offerings in US currency thusly stamped would force his atheist church, The First Amendment Church of True Science, into contradicting one of its founding suggestions of "question, be honest and do what is right." (One can only guess which of the three, if not all, are contradicted by accepting currency with In God We Trust emblazoned on the surface.)

Jeff Goldstein parses this with Protein Wisdom.

All of Newdow's ado neglects one simple idea core to our Founding Father's wishes: that we are granted rights by a higher authority than government. "We hold these truths to be self evident" is a testament that some truths are beyond question and not to be periled by man or government, because they come from a higher authority.

Newdow's argument, while trying to keep individuals from having to bow to any God according to a government mandate, is a step backward in self-evidence, and one step closer to eroding the apparatus that has allowed us Americans as a people to live in freedom for over 200 years.