narses, fyi: It was the KofC who got "Under God" in the Pledge. Check it out.
Knights Defend 'under God' in Pledge
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12/23/2003
NEW HAVEN, CT — Stating that the fundamental self-understanding of the United States — from the Declaration of Independence through everyday practices by Congress and the president — is in jeopardy, the Knights of Columbus, which led the effort to persuade President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U.S. Congress in the 1950s to add the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, has filed a friend of the court brief before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of United States of America v. Newdow. In that case, a divided panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared mandatory recitation of the pledge unconstitutional because of the words "under God."
The opinion of the 9th Circuit Court, the Knights argue, "threatens not only one patriotic rite and one particular federal statute." The opinion "challenges the American principle that fundamental rights are inalienable by the State because they exist prior to the State," the Knights said in their brief.
If reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because it refers to a nation "under God," the brief continues, "then reciting the Declaration of Independence, which refers to the Creator as the source of rights, is surely cast in doubt." The nation's "self-understanding," the brief concludes, would then be called into question.
The Knights' brief notes that in prior judgments the court has affirmed the role of religion in American life without establishing or endorsing a state religion. Presidents, too, the brief states, have enjoined God in inaugural addresses and other public speeches.
Calling the 9th Circuit Court's decision "at war" with tradition, the brief argues that the Supreme Court should overturn the appeals court's ruling.
The brief was signed by Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, who holds a law degree and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, and Supreme Advocate Paul R. Devin, along with Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law Professor Robert Destro. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed the brief on behalf of the Knights.
http://www.kofc.org/news/releases/detail.cfm?id=3107
I know, a friend was one of the organizers of that effort 50 years ago. As I said, I am not attacking the KofC, I am shocked that they 1 - allow babykillers in, and 2 - have a secret policy of tolerance for same.