Tribe.net. Local Connections Rocky http://agnosticism.tribe.net/thread/31be7fc5-2b15-4d41-a1d0-b18f448a79ba#1a86aaf1-b650-4623-8915-b1e2b525f14a 2009-01-16T21:37:45Z 2009-01-16T21:37:45Z

That's right! "Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--'I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.' '' - U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 1 http://www.secular.org

Rocky 2009-01-16T21:37:45Z VoodooChild http://agnosticism.tribe.net/thread/31be7fc5-2b15-4d41-a1d0-b18f448a79ba#69adc15f-7579-4592-ba74-9ae3c7c6a1e3 2009-01-16T18:58:47Z 2009-01-16T18:58:47Z

Yeah, that original article totally bungled it. The one on FFFR was much better. Now I see what they're trying to do and it makes more sense. It's really disturbing that we have a chief justice of the supreme court who thinks this shit is constitutional. It says explicitly in the constitution that there will be no religious test for office.

VoodooChild 2009-01-16T18:58:47Z Rocky http://agnosticism.tribe.net/thread/31be7fc5-2b15-4d41-a1d0-b18f448a79ba#5f343691-bcca-46dc-bea6-aa7b924ab677 2009-01-16T15:30:34Z 2009-01-16T15:30:34Z

Keep Religion OUT of Politics Mobile Billboard in D.C. on Jan. 20 "January 15, 2009 The Freedom From Religion Foundation is taking its message of keeping religion out of government to the Inauguration on Jan. 20. The nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, also a state/church watchdog, is running a catchy quarter-page ad in The Washington Post on Jan. 20 addressed to the incoming president, urging "Mr. President, Rebuild That Wall!" "The Freedom From Religion Foundation is taking its message of keeping religion out of government to the Inauguration on Jan. 20. The nation's largest association of atheists and agnostics, also a state/church watchdog, is running a catchy quarter-page ad in The Washington Post on Jan. 20 addressed to the incoming president, urging "Mr. President, Rebuild That Wall!" The ad will further urge the new president to "Dismantle Bush's disastrous 'faith-based initiative' " and "Restore the Jeffersonian 'wall of separation between church and state.' " Government, the Foundation noted, "should run on facts, not faith." The Foundation's red-white-and-blue message of "Keep Religion OUT of Politics" will also be circulating for ten hours in the Capitol Hill area on Tuesday. (The Foundation is eager to receive photographs of supporters next to the mobile billboard to post at its website.) " 'All the king's horses and all the king's men' can't put the faith-based initiative back together again, so let's throw it out and go back to the simple First Amendment," says Foundation co-president Dan Barker. The Foundation and its co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, on behalf of its 13,600 members, are among the co-plaintiffs in Michael Newdow's federal lawsuit, Newdow v. Roberts, challenging prayer to open and close the swearing-in and the addition of "In God We Trust" to the secular oath of office. "The inauguration is not a religious event," notes Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor. "It is not a coronation. It is a secular celebration for all of us. ‘We the people’ bow down to no sovereign, be it earthly or heavenly." Michael Newdow will be arguing for a temporary restraining order today at 2 p.m. in a district court in the District of Columbia. The Foundation has launched more than 40 lawsuits to preserve the constitutional separation of church and state since it was founded in 1978, and has taken (and won) more challenges of the faith-based initiative than any other civil liberties group. Its members were spurned by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision last year denying standing in FFRF's challenge of Pres. Bush's authority to create a "faith-based office" in the White House." http://www.ffrf.org/news/2009/washpoad.php Newdow, FFRF & Coalition Sue to Halt Inaugural Prayers December 30, 2008 The Freedom From Religion Foundation, its co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor and several of its members are among the 29 co-plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit, Newdow v. Roberts, filed today by attorney Michael Newdow in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to enjoin the Presidential Inaugural Committee from sponsoring prayers at the official Inauguration. The 34-page Legal Complaint also punctures some myths, documenting that for most of our country's history, no clergy led prayers at inaugurations. http://www.ffrf.org/news/2008/inaugurationComplaint.php FFRF Urges Obama Not Only to Drop Warren, But All Prayer, From Inauguration December 22, 2008 After being heaped with abuse over the past eight years, the Establishment Clause needs a 'fierce advocate' indeed in the White House. Take this unparalleled opportunity, Mr. President-Elect, to rebuild that wall of separation between church and state." http://www.ffrf.org/news/2008/obama_warren.php If keeping state and church separate are important to you - join the "Separation of church and state" tribe to remain up to date on the latest news, info and happenings http://separationofchurchstate.tribe.net ;

Rocky 2009-01-16T15:30:34Z Rocky http://agnosticism.tribe.net/thread/31be7fc5-2b15-4d41-a1d0-b18f448a79ba#7adc7ab0-67d4-4cc2-85a7-6a6e4d2297e1 2009-01-15T20:59:34Z 2009-01-15T20:58:54Z

Actually, don't let the headline fool you - that's the news paper headline. What's really happening here is that Hon. John Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, wants to permanently add the religious phrase, "So help me God," to the Presidential oath of office. That is what's being challenged here. While those in office currently have the freedom to say that phrase, what Hon. John Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court wants to do is REMOVE the freedom NOT TO say that phrase. So, one would be forced to say "So help me God," in the Presidential Inauguration whether one wanted to or not. You might be better off reading this - http://www.ffrf.org/news/2008/inaugurationComplaint.php ;

Rocky 2009-01-15T20:58:54Z VoodooChild http://agnosticism.tribe.net/thread/31be7fc5-2b15-4d41-a1d0-b18f448a79ba#815d5eb4-cf4a-44f1-a740-555e90b783d8 2009-01-15T18:35:19Z 2009-01-15T18:35:19Z

Awesome, another atheist public relations disaster. This time they come out looking like they oppose freedom of religion. It makes this atheist wonder what other atheists do when they aren't pissing on their own shoes.

VoodooChild 2009-01-15T18:35:19Z Rocky http://agnosticism.tribe.net/thread/31be7fc5-2b15-4d41-a1d0-b18f448a79ba#4e1494d8-f4e0-453e-a029-a12df710fc2f 2009-01-15T02:40:03Z 2009-01-15T02:40:03Z

Keeping this news in mind, Newdow, FFRF & Coalition Sue to Halt Inaugural Prayers http://www.ffrf.org/news/2008/inaugurationComplaint.php This news just in... Atheists want God stricken from inaugural oath "WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama wants to conclude his inaugural oath with the words "so help me God," but a group of atheists is asking a federal judge to stop him. California atheist Michael Newdow sued Chief Justice John Roberts in federal court for an injunction barring the use of those words in the inaugural oath. Newdow and other atheists and agnostics also want to stop the use of prayers during the inaugural celebration. Newdow, who lost a Supreme Court battle to get the words "under God" taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance, has failed in similar challenges to the use of religious words and prayers at President George W. Bush's inaugurations. Roberts' attorney Jeffrey P. Minear filed a document in Newdow's lawsuit saying that Obama wants the words "so help me God" included in his oath of office. The Justice Department and attorneys general from all 50 states have filed motions at the federal court asking for the lawsuit to be thrown out. The oath dictated by the Constitution is 35 words long and reads: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The National Archives says that George Washington added the words "so help me God" when he took the oath at his 1789 inaugural, and most presidents have used it since. However, some have argued that the first eyewitness account of a president using those words came at President Chester Arthur's inauguration in 1881. Named in Newdow's lawsuit are Roberts; Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; and the two pastors invited to the event, the Rev. Rick Warren and the Rev. Joseph Lowery. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton will hear arguments on Thursday." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090115/ap_on_go_ot/obama_under_god ;

Rocky 2009-01-15T02:40:03Z