Pledge of Allegiance Case Based on a Lie

JEWISH WORLD REVIEW, July 18 — The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court decision declaring the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional in schools has several resemblances to Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion decision.

One is the inventive logic used by the judges to find constitutional rights never envisioned by the American founders. Another is that both cases are based on falsehoods. In Roe v. Wade, the original plaintiff falsely claimed that she was the victim of a rape; the feminist groups that took over her case kept that fact quiet until after the decision. Likewise, the plaintiff who sued the state of California to have the Pledge of Allegiance removed from classrooms used lies to advance his case, according to reports cited in The Jewish World Review.

Michael Newdow, an atheist, had complained that his third-grade daughter had to “watch and listen as her state-employed teacher in her state-run school leads her classmates in a ritual proclaiming that there is a God, and that our's (sic) is ‘one nation under God.’”

However, the girl's mother has gone public with the fact that the child attends a Christian church on Sundays and says she enjoys reciting the phrase “under God.”

Patrick Buchanan Calls for Caution on Iraq War

WORLDNETDAILY.COM, July 22 — In his weekly column published at Worldnetdaily.com, Catholic commentator and former presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan called for Congress to be cautious in evaluating President Bush's war plans against Iraq.

Pointing to the invasion plan published in The New York Times,“calling for 250,000 U.S. troops to strike Iraq from three directions,” Buchanan argued that a conflict with Iraq seemed likely — and must be debated by Congress, which has the sole right to declare war under the U.S. Constitution.

He also noted reports in The Washington Times on Saddam Hussein's planned response to a U.S. invasion, to “kill as many Americans as possible, before his life ends in a Baghdad bunker … All the weapons in Baghdad's arsenal, including chemicals and gas, will be used on U.S. troops, while 'sleeper cells’ in the United States will be activated to pay us back in sabotage and murder.”

Asked Buchanan: “Is massive U.S. military intervention on the side of Israel and Ariel Sharon in the turbulent world of Islam not exactly what Osama bin Laden was praying for when he sent those airliners into the World Trade Center?”

‘Voice of the Faithful'Seeks Changes in Church Structure

ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 20 — One of the loudest groups emerging from the recent scandals over bishops’ treatment of abusive clergy is Voice of the Faithful, which had its first national meeting last weekend in Boston.

Associated Press reported that the group “called for drastic changes in the way the Church is governed.” In a statement, the group vowed to find ways for lay Catholics to “actively participate in the governance and guidance of the Catholic Church. Included among proposals under discussion were policy-making power for lay Church members and giving parishioners a role in the appointment of bishops and pastors.”

The keynote speaker, Father Thomas Doyle, said recent scandals had arisen thanks to “the delusion that the clergy are somehow above the rest,” and to some bishops’ “unbridled addiction to power.”

Many Church dissenters were prominently featured at the Boston event. For example, an official panelist at the meeting was Thomas Arens, who has led petition drives seeking the ordination of women to the priesthood.