My Hat is Off

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5.Jul.2002

My hat is off to Mr. Michael Newdow, the Sacramento atheist who successfully sued to have the pledge of allegiance declared unconstitutional because he didn’t want his second-grade daughter to have to mouth the words, ‘one nation under God.’ This took some serious guts. No, really, you have to admire a man who would willingly put his family in the national spotlight, and not in a good way, because of his strong belief in something that was so obviously detrimental to his little girl.

Since Mr. Newdow takes his non-beliefs so seriously, I am quite certain that he must also be refusing to accept U.S. currency in exchange for any work he performs. After all, the coin of the realm he resides in clearly states that non-atheistic ‘in God we trust’ thing again. How that must make him shudder and itch to call the lawyer he has on his speed dial. Plus, simply handling things that have the ‘G’ word on them should be enough to garner him a windfall for pain and suffering in a civil suit.

You know, I make fun of this because it’s simply ludicrous to me that someone would actually take this to court. In recent years my grade school age children have been learning how to sing dreidel songs in December, they’ve danced selected dances from Africa and even learned how to use sign language to sign songs. Before you ask, no we’re not Jewish, we’re not from Africa and none of us are deaf. Perhaps there was a lawsuit in there for me to latch on to, I just never thought about it. After all, forcing my children to sing things that are not of my faith and/or beliefs might have caused them emotional distress. Now at least they’ll have something else to talk to their therapists about in later years besides my failings as a mother in their toilet training.

Mr. Newdow needs to do a bit of remedial history work and understand the reason this great nation of ours was founded in the first place. Our ancestors were searching for the right to worship as they saw fit. Our founding fathers were firm in their belief of a Supreme Being but were also savvy enough to know that mixing church and government was a recipe for disaster and discrimination. That’s why we don’t mix church and state. There is no state sponsored religion.

Apologies to Mr. Newdow, but we are unable to go back and rewrite history in an effort to make it more p.c. for him. (And when I say ‘p.c.’ I mean it in the most ridiculous sense of the acronym.) We are not discriminating against him by using the ‘G’ word in the pledge of allegiance. We are a nation of diversity. There are as many beliefs, or non-beliefs, as there are people. The beauty of it all is that you are free to believe and worship in any manner you please. Or not believe and not worship, as the case may be.

So my children can sing Jewish songs, his daughter can say the ‘G’ word and I’m quite certain this great land of ours won’t dissolve into anarchy and be destroyed from within. As I stated before, I have great admiration for Mr. Newdow. What he did took fortitude. It reminds me of the strength our forefathers held when they formed this United States of America. My hat is off to you Michael Newdow. You’ve taken the freedom granted you from our one nation under… well, whatever it’s under, and used it to express your opinion. I’d call you blessed because you have that opportunity, but I fear being sued, so I’ll call you one lucky man.

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One Lucky Man

5.Jul.2002