Godless Americans answer the call to defend the Ninth Circuit Court decision in the controversial NEWDOW case.

resident George Bush wasted no time yesterday in using the nation's July 4th holiday to reinforce the connection between patriotism and religious belief.

   Mr. Bush also exploited his appearance at an Independence Day celebration in Ripley, West Virginia to lead a local crowd in what the Washington Times newspaper described as a "rousing rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance." This comes as politicians and clergy throughout the nation continue to react to last week's ruling from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which struck down the pledge as an unconstitutional endorsement of sectarian religion.

   The case had been brought by Dr. Michael Newdow, a California physician and Atheist who charged that the inclusion of "under God" in the pledge violated the First Amendment separation of church and state.

   Mr. Bush and the crowd shouted the words "under God" in a "show of contempt for the decision," noted the Times.

   "The president then loosed a passionate defense of Gold Glory," wrote Times staffer Bill Sammon.

   "The American people, when we pledge our allegiance to the flag, feel renewed respect and love for all it represents," blustered Bush. "And no authority of government can ever prevent an American from pledging allegiance to this one nation, under God."

   "More than ever in the lifetimes of most Americans, the flag stands for a unified country. We've been united in our grief, and we are united in our resolve to protect our people and to defeat the enemies of the United States of America."

   Knowing that the crowd was heavily represented by evangelical Christians, Bush "unapologetically invoked the name of God," said the Times report.

   Bush's visit to the small community of 3,500 residents, though, was about more than patriotism and religious revival. The Charleston Gazette newspaper noted that this is the president's third visit since his election in 2000, and that local House Representative Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) faces a tough Democratic challenger in the November election.

   There is other evidence of what some media describe as a "backlash" against the Ninth Circuit ruling, and that a full-scale culture war battle is forming over the Pledge of Allegiance and the broader question of the role of religion in the public square.

   ¶       In Missouri, Gov. Bob Holden signed legislation that requires public schools to organize student recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week. The measure had cleared the state legislature prior to the Ninth Circuit Court ruling, but Holden told reporters that the new law was an important "symbolic gesture." He also brushed aside concerns that youngsters who did not participate, or refused to utter the "under God" segment of the pledge, might be ostracized.

   "First of all, I don't want to see any children picked on for any reason, but that misses the point here," declared Holden. "I think the point here is that this is a way for them to all understand what it means to be an American."

   The signing ceremony included a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance led by the governor and eight students from a local Boys Club and Girls Club. But one of the participants, 13-year-old Michael Johnson, made of a point of telling reporters, "If people don't want to say it, they don't have to."

   ¶       In Illinois, Gov. George Ryan signed a law requiring pledge recitation in public schools on a daily basis.

   ¶       In cities across the nation, various mayors and local officials led public recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance which included the "under God" segment. Philadelphia Mayor John Street, a member of the Jehovah's Witness sect that successfully challenged forced recital of the pledge, yelled the "under God" portion during the opening of the city's Independence Day celebration.

   ¶       Palm Beach County, Florida residents will vote in a July 13 mock election on whether the Pledge of Allegiance should include the words "under God." The non-binding election will be a test of 3,100 new touch screen voting machines.

   In the wake of their decision, two of the three judges who ruled against the "religionized" Pledge of Allegiance are speaking out on finer points of constitutional law and procedure.

   Judge Alfred Goodwin, who authored the majority panel ruling, said Wednesday that justices were simply following U.S. Supreme Court precedents in handing down a finding consist with long-standing First Amendment law.

   Goodwin noted that the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, which calls for the separation of church and state, has been used by both the Supreme Court and the rest of the judiciary to stop a host of religious activities in schools, including clergy-led invocations and student-led prayer at athletic events.

   "The strongest cases were what the Supreme Court has been saying about school prayers, including at athletic events," Goodwin told Associated Press. "This indicated that the Supreme Court was reading the Establishment Clause rather broadly. We (the Ninth Circuit) felt we were consistent with these opinions."

   Goodwin was appointed to the Ninth Circuit bench in 1971 by President Nixon.

   Judge Stephen Reinhardt last week said that a temporary stay on the Ninth Circuit decision so that various appeals in the case might proceed indicated that the court had caved in to public opinion.

   "It was a public relations gimmick," said Reinhardt. "That would be a fair characterization of it."

   Judge Goodwin told reporters that he blocked enforcement of the ruling to ensure that school districts in states covered by the Ninth Circuit would not immediately stop recitation of the pledge. He added that the circuit's ruling are stayed for 45 days in order to facilitate appeals, and he referred to the action as " a bit of fire control."

   Lawmakers in Washington wasted no time passing a flurry of resolutions critical of the Ninth Circuit ruling, along with proposed constitutional amendments to guarantee that the Pledge of Allegiance continues to incorporate the words "under God."

   House Resolutions 428, 459 and 466 criticized the Newdow decision and "expressed support for the Pledge of Allegiance." Other resolutions affirmed school prayer, the pledge and periods where school children would engage in "quiet reflection."

   Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) rushed a proposed amendment into the legislative hopper. Known as H.J. Res. 103, it declares: "Nothing in the first amendment to this Constitution shall be construed to prohibit the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance as follows: 'I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all' "

   The Green amendment is currently in the House Judiciary Committee.

   A measure with identical wording, H.J. Res. 102 was also introduced by Congressman Charles Pickering (R-MS). It too was directed to the HJC.

   In the Senate, Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) joined colleague George Allen (R-VA.) in crafting S.J. Res. 39, "Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to the reference to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and on United States currency." By senate diktat, it bypasses judicial review and simply proclaims that "A reference to God in the pledge of Allegiance or on United States currency shall not be construed as affecting the establishment of religion under first article (sic) of this Constitution" and that "Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

   The measure has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

   In the hours following the Ninth Circuit ruling, Washington solons stormed out on the steps of the Capitol Building for a staged media event which included a loud recitation of the Pledge, with special emphasis on the "under God" portion. It was then time to head inside for a frantic round of resolutions condemning the decision. In the House of Representatives, only three members stood firm on behalf of separation of church and state. They were: Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia), Mike Honda (D-CA.) and Pete Stark (D-CA.).

   Congressman Scott said that he deplored members of congress devoting time to judicial issues instead of working on the budget deficit.

   He accused fellow lawmakers of "running all over town to get in front of cameras so they could pledge allegiance."

   Over at the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General John Ashcroft took time off from the security planning for the July 4 events to reassure the public that the full weight of his department would be used to affect an appeal.

   "The Justice Department will defend the ability of our nation's children to pledge allegiance to the American flag, by requesting a rehearing en banc by the full Ninth Circuit," said Ashcroft.

   Hysteria over the decision trickled down to the state level, where politicians excoriated the Ninth Circuit ruling. In Kentucky, for instance, State Senator Virgil Moore said that the ruling was an "abomination," and that "The duty of our courts is to interpret the laws, not pervert them." He accused the Circuit judges of "violating the constitution," and said that decision was "a slap in the face to every soldier and veteran who has fought for this country since George Washington helped repel the French from Pittsburgh in 1754."

   Political advocacy groups such as the American Conservative Union condemned the ruling and even called for impeachment of judges.

   ACU President David Keene described the Newdow ruling as one of the "kinds of goofy decisions we'll see more of if Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and the Daschle Democrats keep bottling up the President's nominations of dozens of judicial appointments."

   "If this ruling is allowed to stand," added Keene, "the days of 'God Bless America and 'In God We Trust' are numbered. I find it absolutely amazing that anyone could interpret such general references to a supreme being as a government establishment of religion..."

   Despite the furious "backlash," America's diverse community of Atheists, Freethinkers and others who profess no religion and support the Newdow ruling seemed to be speaking out in record numbers. Clippings, copies of e-mail, video and even the results of local and national polls indicate that while the majority of Americans seem to oppose the Ninth Circuit decision, there is also healthy and aggressive support for striking "under God" from the Pledge.

   "We're seeing a lot of letters to the editors of local papers and response to on-line and television polls," said Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists. Johnson urged Atheist and other nonbeliever groups to "keep the pressure on," and speak out.

   Johnson, along with American Atheists Communications Director Ron Barrier, spent much of the past week giving interviews and appearing on national news programs like "Hannity & Colmes" and the "O'Reilly Factor." AA State Directors were busy as well. Jim Senyszyn (Illinois), Mike Rivers (Utah), Carletta Sims (Tennessee), Shelly Hattan (Texas), Dave Kong (California) and Youth & Families Director Dave Silverman were also frantically trying to keep up with the media inquiries.

   In addition, American Atheists has launched an on-line petition in support of Dr. Michael Newdow which can found at http://www.atheists.org/action/newdowpetition.html.

   "We remember plenty of times in our history when Atheists and others who took a courageous stand like Dr. Newdow has done were subjected to threats of violence, unfair denunciations and hysterical opposition," said Ellen Johnson. "When she won her court suit to remove coercive prayer and Bible verse recitation from the public schools, Madalyn Murray had her windows broken, her home besieged by religious bullies, and she was eventually physically run out of Baltimore."

   "We don't want that happening here and now," said Johnson.

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