Going back to the OP:
I've already given some instances that indicate this statement is wrong in a couple ways, especially how the ACLU has defended many religious people who have had their first amendment rights violated (via the free exercise clause of the first amendment).
I'd also like to point out that the Pledge of Allegiance* has also been an issue for Jehovah's Witnesses. Personally, I think JWs are looney tunes, but nevertheless this is something that is against their religion, to say the Pledge. Anyway, the ACLU has represented them in cases where JW schoolchildren have been penalized for not saying the pledge.
Michael Newdow went to court based on the claim of an establishment clause violation--the "under god" bit (which he might've won except that he didn't even have custody of the kid-- I already knew he would lose on that technicality alone). But the JWs went to court based on a the claim of a free exercise violation-- because being forced to say the pledge went directly against their own religious beliefs.
Again, the first amendment is a the double-edged sword. Some people make the error of siding only with one aspect of it, or the other. This is why religious people will diss the ACLU for establishment clause cases, and often remain (sometimes willfully) ignorant of the ACLU's free exercise cases. The first amendment accommodates believers and unbelievers alike.
Another thing to remember is WHY the founders decided to make this an issue themselves. Where had these people come from at that time in history? From places where there was a state church and you had to worship at their church or risk imprisonment or worse. And the 13 colonies had already seen a little bit of religious persecution too (the Salem witch trials and the persecution of Quakers by the Puritans). The first amendment was a way of making sure one could follow one's own conscience rather than the dictates of the state on such matters.
* NOTE: Personally, I think the Pledge of Allegiance in ANY form is a bit bizarre and silly anyway.
Quote:Atheists, and the un-American Criminal [sic] Liberties Union in particular, seem to spend a great deal of time and energy fighting things like recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and public prayer.
I've already given some instances that indicate this statement is wrong in a couple ways, especially how the ACLU has defended many religious people who have had their first amendment rights violated (via the free exercise clause of the first amendment).
I'd also like to point out that the Pledge of Allegiance* has also been an issue for Jehovah's Witnesses. Personally, I think JWs are looney tunes, but nevertheless this is something that is against their religion, to say the Pledge. Anyway, the ACLU has represented them in cases where JW schoolchildren have been penalized for not saying the pledge.
Michael Newdow went to court based on the claim of an establishment clause violation--the "under god" bit (which he might've won except that he didn't even have custody of the kid-- I already knew he would lose on that technicality alone). But the JWs went to court based on a the claim of a free exercise violation-- because being forced to say the pledge went directly against their own religious beliefs.
Again, the first amendment is a the double-edged sword. Some people make the error of siding only with one aspect of it, or the other. This is why religious people will diss the ACLU for establishment clause cases, and often remain (sometimes willfully) ignorant of the ACLU's free exercise cases. The first amendment accommodates believers and unbelievers alike.
Another thing to remember is WHY the founders decided to make this an issue themselves. Where had these people come from at that time in history? From places where there was a state church and you had to worship at their church or risk imprisonment or worse. And the 13 colonies had already seen a little bit of religious persecution too (the Salem witch trials and the persecution of Quakers by the Puritans). The first amendment was a way of making sure one could follow one's own conscience rather than the dictates of the state on such matters.
* NOTE: Personally, I think the Pledge of Allegiance in ANY form is a bit bizarre and silly anyway.
“Society is not a disease, it is a disaster. What a stupid miracle that one can live in it.” ~ E.M. Cioran
