Free Republic

(Mar. 18, 2023) — The Constitution requires the president to be a “natural born citizen”. However, the term is not defined in the Constitution. Neither has a law or court ruling been made more exactly delineating the constraints of the term. The purpose of this post is not to re-hash the arguments about what “natural born citizen” means, but to outline a process that generates a legal standard for how it is enforced. The States are key to this process. This proposal is to have one or more states enforce via legislation the implementation of the requirement in their state,...

An article on citizenship kinds, especially for St. Patrick’s Day (Mar. 18, 2023) — (17 Mar 2023) — Regarding the term “natural born citizen” (NBC) in our U.S. Constitution’s presidential eligibility clause and Principles of Natural Law, it is not a very limited club and category of citizenship. In fact it is exactly the opposite. NBCs are the most common, garden variety, most populous group or kind of citizenship that exists in a typical nation and is typically by far the most populous kind, group, or class of citizenship in virtually all nations. Thus in our United States, we have...

The Pledge of Allegiance is preceded by a “land acknowledgement / BLM” statement in at least one Roseville public school. All Minnesota public and charter schools are required by law to lead students in reciting the pledge at least one time each week. While Roseville schools maintain compliance with this policy, at least one elementary school in the district has inserted politically charged language into what is usually a brief moment of patriotism. A photograph taken recently in a Roseville elementary classroom shows that the following affirmation of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) takes place before students turn to the...

During an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) declared she could “absolutely” win reelection despite impeaching former President Donald Trump. Trump has endorsed attorney Harriet Hageman in the race to unseat Cheney, who was removed from her House GOP leadership position after voting to impeach the former president for his role in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

RICHMOND, VA—A local 5th-grade class started classes this morning by standing and reciting the pledge of allegiance to Dr. Fauci, as is now the cherished custom. "Ritual is important for a sense of security and normalcy, and also to ensure these kids swear their undying allegiance to Dr. Fauci, who is the living embodiment of science and our hope for the future," said 5th-grade teacher Mrs. Scuttlebumm. "We will start every day this way until science hears us and saves us all." With their hands over their hearts, the class recited the pledge together in perfect monotone unison: "I pledge...

On May 20, 2021, the state of Iowa passed a law "that requires all Iowa schools to lead the Pledge of Allegiance once a day in grades 1–12." Governor Nordman said:We don't pledge our allegiance to a government or a leader. We pledge our loyalty to an idea — the American idea. We pledge our loyalty to the greatest social experiment to ever happen on this planet. This is why I believe the Pledge of Allegiance is so important.However, the law also states: "A student shall not be compelled against the student's objection or those of a student's parent or...

On June 17th, the St. Louis Park City Council voted 5-0 to get rid of the Pledge of Allegiance. On July 15th, just as the abolition was set to take effect, the Council voted 7-0 in a room crowded with American flags and red, white and blue signs, to bring the Pledge back. Outside a giant inflatable bald eagle kept watch. It was an unlikely victory for patriotism in an implausible place. St. Louis Park is a small Democrat city in Minnesota. Hillary Clinton beat Trump here 3-1. Rep. Ilhan Omar represents it in the House. The firm at the...

The idea was well-intentioned: City council members in St. Louis Park, Minn., a left-leaning suburb of Minneapolis, wanted to make sure that all residents felt welcome at their bimonthly meetings. So, last week, they voted to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. “I hope it’s not too controversial,” St. Louis Park City Council Member Tim Brausen told the Star Tribune. “Our community tends to be a very welcoming and increasingly diverse community, and we believe our citizens will understand." It did, in fact, prove to be controversial. “Anti-American much?” talk show host Joe Pagliarulo tweeted on Wednesday. “St Louis Park...

Strange yet unexpectedly true: Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the single biggest pain in the ass for Pelosi and Democrats from the freshman class.In fact, if not for the obsession on all sides of political media with AOC, Ilhan Omar’s periodic tweet-farts about AIPAC and dual loyalty would be a bigger story than they already are. She’d be the “new face of the party” to righty critics instead of you-know-who.But don’t underestimate her. She’s nothing if not persistent in pushing her favorite anti-semitic canards. We can’t be more than a few weeks away from her approvingly quoting something from the Protocols of...

Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School Principal Lara Zelski decided students will no longer recite the Pledge of Allegiance during the school’s morning meeting agenda, which she described to parents as “an effort to begin our day as a fully inclusive and connected community.”“Over the past couple of years it has become increasingly obvious that more and more of our community were choosing to not stand and/or recite the pledge,” she wrote, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.The statement, posted to the school website, promised parents students could recite the Pledge of Allegiance later in the day, if they felt like it,...

A Connecticut city official who came under fire just weeks ago for taking a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance once again knelt in protest on Monday. Haddam Selectman Melissa Schlag, a Democrat, first drew outrage when she took a knee on July 16 at a Board of Selectman meeting. Schlag then posted a letter on Facebook that defended her actions, saying she knelt due to "extreme sorrow" for the country under President Trump.

Colin Kaepernick's decision to remain seated during the playing of the national anthem has generated a lot of noise. Seemingly carving the divide between Americans into an even larger chasm, people's anger has consumed the controversy and shut down most attempts at actual dialogue. Within that cultural framework, I meekly submit that I do not pledge allegiance to the American flag because I am a Christian. I pray that instead of adding to the division, my reason(s) why I do not will encourage fellow Believers as well as prompt unbelievers to research what it means to be a Christian.

New Jersey Judge David F. Bauman recently dismissed a case orchestrated by a student, his parents, and the American Humanist Association and ruled that hearing the words "under God" during the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the constitutional rights of atheist students. In his decision released Monday, Bauman brilliantly laid to rest the notion that the phrase can, or should, be erased from America's history.

A New Jersey high school student and her family have entered the ongoing legal battle over a lawsuit by an atheist group seeking to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Samantha Jones, a senior at Highland Regional High School in Blackwood, and her family filed an official response to a lawsuit by the American Humanist Association. "If anyone wants to remain silent, that is their right. But it is not their right to silence me," said Jones in a statement. "When I stand up, put my hand over my heart and say the Pledge of Allegiance, I am...

The American Humanist Association (AHA) recently launched a national campaign to rally Americans against reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. You can probably guess what phrase the AHA finds offensive: naturally, it’s the part about “under God.” The ultimate aim of their “Don't Say the Pledge” campaign is to have those two words officially deleted from the pledge. The campaign is currently being promoted through ads at bus stops in New York and Washington, D.C. and videos on YouTube.   Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, explained the group's objection to the Pledge:“We want everyone to know...

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United...

<p>David Niose, an attorney for the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center, said public schools should not permit an exercise that "teaches students that patriotism is tied to a belief in God."</p> <p>“Such a daily exercise portrays atheist and humanist children as second-class citizens, and certainly contributes to anti-atheist prejudices,” Niose said in a statement.</p>

The principal of Concord Carlisle High School in Boston issued an apology Wednesday after a Muslim poem was recited over the intercom on the 12th anniversary of 9/11, and the Pledge of Allegiance was not. According to principal Peter Badalament, a “small number” of people were outraged at the poem, which was meant to promote “cross-cultural understanding,” (Skip) Mohja Kahf’s “My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears,” tells a granddaughter’s account of watching her grandmother adhere to the religious Muslim custom of washing her feet five times a day

Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution provides, in pertinent part: No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.**snip**This political season, the eligibilities of Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz are the subject of debate. As much as we want certainty, the term “natural born...

Atheists and radical church-state separatists have taken particular offense to the continued uttering of the Pledge of Allegiance. To these individuals, the words “under God” have no place in the public square, even when utterances are voluntary in nature. Now, there’s a new epicenter in the debate over the Pledge. Following the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the University of Connecticut’s interim athletic director, Paul Pendergast, decided to add the recitation as a viable way for individuals to remember both the nation and U.S. troops. Following his decision, the Pledge was first uttered after a home football game...