Local
Atheist will attempt to boot God from inauguration
By: Kathleen Miller
Examiner Staff Writer
December 29, 2008
A well-known California atheist says he and 17 others, plus atheist and
humanist organizations, will file suit Tuesday in D.C.'s District Court to
strip all references to God and religion from President-elect Barack Obama's
January inauguration ceremony.
Michael Newdow, of Sacramento, Calif., says he wants to remove the phrase
"so help me God" from the oath of office, plus axe the invocation prayer
from Pastor Rick Warren, already under fire from the left for his opposition
to gay marriage.
According to Newdow, any reference to God or religion violates the
Constitution.
"Equality is important to me," Newdow told The Examiner. "We should show
equal respects for all of our citizens, regardless of their race, gender or
religion."
The draft of the lawsuit contends: "By placing 'so help me God' in its oaths
and sponsoring prayers to God, government is lending its power to one side
of perhaps the greatest religious controversy: God's existence or
non-existence."
Newdow has tried this before: he sued to remove religion from the 2001 and
2005 presidential inaugurations, but lost both times.
In 2005, U.S. District Judge John Bates denied his effort to obtain a
preliminary injunction to keep the president from uttering the words 'so
help me God' as he takes the oath of office.
Nonetheless, Newdow thinks his odds are good.
"It depends on if they decide to uphold the principles of the constitution
or not," Newdow told the Examiner. "If they do, they're 100 percent."
Prof. Ron Allen, a constitutional law expert at Northwestern University,
disagrees.
"You can understand the impulse, it seems as though it's a governmental
activity imbued with religious symbols and a certain sect of religious
symbols, Christian obviously, in particular,"Allen said. "No one thinks the
government is establishing a church by the president saying 'so help be God'
at his own initiative when taking the oath. I don't think the courts will
intervene."
humanist organizations, will file suit Tuesday in D.C.'s District Court to
strip all references to God and religion from President-elect Barack Obama's
January inauguration ceremony.
Michael Newdow, of Sacramento, Calif., says he wants to remove the phrase
"so help me God" from the oath of office, plus axe the invocation prayer
from Pastor Rick Warren, already under fire from the left for his opposition
to gay marriage.
According to Newdow, any reference to God or religion violates the
Constitution.
"Equality is important to me," Newdow told The Examiner. "We should show
equal respects for all of our citizens, regardless of their race, gender or
religion."
The draft of the lawsuit contends: "By placing 'so help me God' in its oaths
and sponsoring prayers to God, government is lending its power to one side
of perhaps the greatest religious controversy: God's existence or
non-existence."
Newdow has tried this before: he sued to remove religion from the 2001 and
2005 presidential inaugurations, but lost both times.
In 2005, U.S. District Judge John Bates denied his effort to obtain a
preliminary injunction to keep the president from uttering the words 'so
help me God' as he takes the oath of office.
Nonetheless, Newdow thinks his odds are good.
"It depends on if they decide to uphold the principles of the constitution
or not," Newdow told the Examiner. "If they do, they're 100 percent."
Prof. Ron Allen, a constitutional law expert at Northwestern University,
disagrees.
"You can understand the impulse, it seems as though it's a governmental
activity imbued with religious symbols and a certain sect of religious
symbols, Christian obviously, in particular,"Allen said. "No one thinks the
government is establishing a church by the president saying 'so help be God'
at his own initiative when taking the oath. I don't think the courts will
intervene."
