Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Dr. Michael Newdow delivers a speech on the seperation of church and state Tuesday night at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Newdow in federal court 2002 challenged the constitutionality of the phrase "under God" and it's inclusion in the Pledge of Allegiance. The case was dismissed from the Supreme Court on a technicality the first time through in 2004.
Michael Newdow swears this entire court case came about because of a joke. He’s just not swearing to god.
Newdow spoke at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union Tuesday night about his 2004 Supreme Court case where he argued that the phrase “under God” needed to be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.
He opened his lecture by strumming a guitar and singing a song he wrote called, “The Pledge of Allegiance Blues.”
“It all began one Sunday in 1954; that old Pledge of Allegiance needed something more,” the song began. The song’s chorus was “They had those Pledge of Allegiance needs some old religion blues.”
He said he was prompted to take on the issue because of an incident in Chicago. The friends he was visiting never had soap when he visited them, he said. So as a joke, he went to purchase 100 bars of soap.
He said he noticed the phrase, “In God We Trust,” on some money while standing in line. He was outraged when he pointed out the phrase to his friends, he said.
Another reason he decided to pursue the case was because his daughter was forced to recite the pledge every day in her third-grade class.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 against him in 2004 and said Newdow wasn’t eligible to argue the case at the time because he was also involved in a legal dispute about the custody of his daughter, who he was arguing the pledge case for.
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He’s currently working on two cases, one to remove “In God We Trust” and another attempt at the pledge case, this time representing different clients.
He’s currently working on two cases, one to remove “In God We Trust” and another attempt at the pledge case, this time representing different clients.
Newdow used the first hour of his lecture to explain how the word “God” and other religious phrases filtered their way into the founding American documents. He said the very first act of the first U.S. Congress was to remove both references to God in the Congressional oath.
Newdow was brought to the University by the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics. Andrew Stangl, Wichita senior and society president, said Newdow’s visit was especially meaningful for students in law and political science.
“It’s not every day you get to pose questions to someone who argued in front of the Supreme Court,” Stangl said.
Kansan staff writer Tyler Harbert can be contacted at tharbert@kansan.com.
— Edited by Ryan Schneider
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