Atheist Group Files Lawsuit Against Prayer at Presidential Inauguration

By Mike Majchrowitz FOXNews.com Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The head of an atheist group told FOX News Radio on Tuesday that by allowing a prayer at President-elect Obama's inauguration, the government is subjecting atheists and agnostics to someone else's religious beliefs.

The head of an atheist group that has filed a lawsuit against prayer at Barack Obama's presidential inauguration says the government is picking a winner between "believers" and "those who don't believe" and subjecting atheists and agnostics to someone else's religious beliefs.

Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, has joined with Michael Newdow, who fought to have the words "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, in a federal lawsuit seeking to enjoin the Presidential Inaugural Committee from sponsoring prayers at the official inauguration. The 34-page legal complaint similarly seeks to enjoin Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., from adding the phrase "So help me God" to the presidential oath of office.

"We're hoping to stop prayer and religious rituals at governmental functions, especially at the inauguration," Barker told FOX News Radio.

"The inauguration is not a religious event. It is a secular event of a secular country that includes all Americans, including those of us who are not Christians, including those of us who are not believers," he continued.

Barker, who said government's not picking sides on the issue of religion is "hard wired into our Constitution," called the 29 members of the suit all atheists and agnostics who love their country and participating in the inauguration. "Yet we are subjected to someone else's religious views with the endorsement of the government, which makes us feel like second class outsiders," he said.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the same group that fought to have atheist displays next to holiday displays, most notably in Washington state this year.

He said if Obama wants to hold a private religious ceremony, that would be more appropriate than having religious figures up on stage at his swearing in ceremony.

Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, said it's Obama's decision whether to include a prayer, not the government's.

"The atheists, while they have every right to practice their atheism, they do not have an absolute right not to be exposed to viewpoints they don't agree with. So I think this lawsuit has no merit whatsoever," Sprigg said.

Barker argued that by allowing religious phrases to be used in the ceremony as well as inviting Revs. Rick Warren and Joe Lowery, who are named as defendants in the suit, to participate in the inaugural festivities, the government is picking a winner in the dispute over religion and atheism."

Those people who do pray do believe in God and they are in fact trying to use the government to pick sides. In America we are free to disagree. We can disagree with Rev. Rick Warren but we're not free to ask our government to settle the argument," Barker said, adding that government causes harm when it takes on "the mantel of religion and expresses religion as an official governmental function.

"Sprigg said he thinks the case has no merit and, like previous attempts to block inaugural prayer, this too will fail. "These atheists who are suing to prevent prayer at the inauguration are showing a fundamental misunderstanding of what the First Amendment is all about. The establishment of religion that is forbidden by the First Amendment means the official declaration of an official national church. It doesn't mean that public ceremonies can not include prayers or acknowledgment of the existence of God," he told FOX News Radio.

Asked if prayer is excluded, wouldn't that mean government is choosing atheists as the winner, Barker replied, "There is a difference between neutrality and hostility. "If the government were to invite me as a national atheist leader to get up and give an invocation that curses the name of God and that encourages people to stop believing and stop being so childish and divisive then that would be wrong because the government would be taking a pro-atheist position," he said.

Sprigg said he doubts that Roberts being named in the suit will affect the outcome or that Roberts would have to recuse himself if the case came before the high court.

"That's intriguing but I don't think even the liberals on the court would go so far as to prevent prayer at the inauguration," he said.

My Thoughts

Just like the Olympics, this is another attack on prayer that happens every four years when a president is sworn in. Every inauguration a prayer is said, and every time here come the atheists trying to take our freedom of religion and the free expression thereof. When will they learn to shut up and stop being so sensitive? Our prayers are not hurting them. We're not forcing them to pray with us under the threat of imprisonment or death. This country was founded as a religious nation. Get over it Dan Barker and company.

Dad Headline of the Week-12/26/08

Utah store has bone to pick with shoplifting dog

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Published: December 25, 2008
MURRAY, Utah (AP) - A thief remains at large after pulling off a daring heist - in the pet food aisle.
Surveillance video at a supermarket in this Salt Lake City suburb caught a dog shoplifting, KSL-TV reported Wednesday.

The video showed the dog walking in the front door of Smith's Food & Drug in Murray, and heading straight to Aisle 16, the pet food aisle, where it grabbed a bone worth $2.79.

The thief wasn't even perturbed by a face-to-face confrontation with store manager Roger Adamson.

"I looked at him. I said 'Drop it!'" Adamson said. "He looked at me, and I looked at him, and he ran for the door and away he went, right out the front door."

Bush-"Comforter In Chief"

Report: Bush Spent Hundreds of Hours Comforting Families of Fallen Soldiers
President Bush headed to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Monday to comfort wounded soldiers, the public part of a private campaign that has included more than 4,000 letters to family members

FOXNews.com

Monday, December 22, 2008

According to The Washington Times, the self-described "comforter in chief" said it's his duty as president to try to help as "best as I humanly can a loved one who is in anguish."

The Times notes that people familiar with Bush's routine say he has written letters personally to every one of the families of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. The task has taken a toll, and Bush has relied on his wife, Laura, for emotional support, he said.

"I lean on the Almighty and Laura," the president told the Times. "She has been very reassuring, very calming."

Vice President Cheney has also met with family members of soldiers who have died.

Bush has met with more than 500 families of troops killed in action and with more than 950 wounded veterans, often during private sessions, White House spokesman Carlton Carroll told the newspaper.

The Times said the first lady was in on many of those meetings and also felt the heart-wrenching pain of such moments.
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My Thoughts

Is it that it was really the best kept secret or did the liberal media not care about a story that might put Bush in a good light? Why did this story not come out until after the election?

Michigan Town Turns Soviet Red

Michigan city bans being annoying in public

Published: Dec 19, 2008

BRIGHTON, Mich. (AP) - Ticking someone off could get you a ticket in one Michigan city. The Brighton City Council on Thursday approved an ordinance allowing police in the Livingston County community to ticket and fine anyone who is annoying in public "by word of mouth, sign or motions."

The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus of Howell reports the measure is modeled on a similar ordinance in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak.

A city attorney says there could be situations where the measure would violate freedom of speech, but that those cases will be reviewed by the city.

The ban takes effect Jan. 2.

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My thoughts

Just another attempt at taking away our freedoms of speech and expression by the intolerant "progressives". They have been taking away our freedoms one at a time in the guise of tolerance. Let's all travel to Michigan to give a Stone Cold salute to the Brighton city council to exercise our American rights to express ourselves and protest and tell them those two little words...

Bush's Size 10 Attacker

December 15, 2008

Iraqi Journalist Hurls Shoes at Bush and Denounces Him on TV as a 'Dog'

By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ALISSA J. RUBIN

BAGHDAD — President Bush made a valedictory visit on Sunday to Iraq, the country that will largely define his legacy, but the trip will more likely be remembered for the unscripted moment when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at Mr. Bush's head and denounced him on live television as a "dog" who had delivered death and sorrow here from nearly six years of war.
The drama unfolded shortly after Mr. Bush appeared at a news conference in Baghdad with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to highlight the newly adopted security agreement between the United States and Iraq. The agreement includes a commitment to withdraw all American forces by the end of 2011.

The Iraqi journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 28, a correspondent for Al Baghdadia, an independent Iraqi television station, stood up about 12 feet from Mr. Bush and shouted in Arabic: "This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!" He then threw a shoe at Mr. Bush, who ducked and narrowly avoided it.

As stunned security agents and guards, officials and journalists watched, Mr. Zaidi then threw his other shoe, shouting in Arabic, "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!" That shoe also narrowly missed Mr. Bush as Prime Minister Maliki stuck a hand in front of the president's face to help shield him.
Mr. Maliki's security agents jumped on the man, wrestled him to the floor and hustled him out of the room. They kicked him and beat him until "he was crying like a woman," said Mohammed Taher, a reporter for Afaq, a television station owned by the Dawa Party, which is led by Mr. Maliki. Mr. Zaidi was then detained on unspecified charges.

Other Iraqi journalists in the front row apologized to Mr. Bush, who was uninjured and tried to brush off the incident by making a joke. "All I can report is it is a size 10," he said, continuing to take questions and noting the apologies. He also called the incident a sign of democracy, saying, "That's what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves," as the man's screaming could be heard outside.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/world/middleeast/15prexy.html?_r=1
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My Thoughts

Apparently, the journalist liked it better when Hussein was in power. There was the 8 years of war with Iran and the 1 year with the US and Kuwait. Those wars weren't exactly filled with love and happiness. He didn't gas the Kurds and Iranians with laughing gas. Does he have the same concern for the many widows that Sadaam made during his reign of terror? Let's not forget that many were, also, wrongly imprisoned or executed for speaking out against Sadaam or his party. If the reporter would have thrown a shoe at Hussein, he probably would be missing a limb or in a shallow grave. I hope that he enjoys the freedom of speech and the right of dissent that he has now.

Dad Headline of the Week-12/19/08

Killing Me Softly: Pillow-Fight Tournaments Grow in Popularity

Congratulations to Kelly Chung Dawson and FoxNews for getting the Dad Headline of the Week

(A "dad headline" is a news headline with a joke in it so corny that only your dorky dad would actually dare tell it.)