Becket Fund Enters Ring in Round 2 of Pledge FightJul 19, 2005 Intervenors emphasize that "under God" reflects philosophy of limited government A federal court has ruled that Michael Newdow will have to contend with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in his ideologically bankrupt quest to have “under God” stripped from the Pledge of Allegiance. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton granted The Becket Fund's motion to intervene on behalf of 10 California public school children, their parents, and approximately 1.7 million members of the Knights of Columbus to defend the Pledge.
"These students and parents represent the literally millions of students who for generations now have recited the full Pledge voluntarily, including its reference to God as the source of our inalienable rights," said Jared Leland, Media and Legal Counsel for The Becket Fund. "By granting them the right to intervene as parties in the lawsuit, the court properly recognized that they need not stand idly by while Mr. Newdow seeks to rewrite history and this nation's understanding of itself."
The Knights' purpose in adding the phrase was to underscore the American philosophy of limited government -- as reflected in other foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence and Gettysburg Address -- and contrast it with the Soviet philosophy of totalitarian government. On the American model, government is limited because rights are inalienable; because the State is not the ultimate source of rights, the State isn't free to take them away and is bound to respect them. On the Soviet model, the State is the ultimate power and the source of all rights, capable of withdrawing entirely whatever rights it may grant. In 1954, Congress passed a law adding "under God" to the Pledge on the same rationale. Relevant Cases
|
