Michael Newdow — who seems to want to take up the helm of the deceased Madalyn Murray O’Hair as the most annoying atheist in America — is back with a lawsuit seeking to prevent Bush from placing his hand on a Bible while he is sworn in as president on January 20.
The Washington Times quotes Newdow as saying,
It is an offense of the highest magnitude that the leader of our nation — while swearing to uphold the Constitution — publicly violates that very document upon taking his oath of office. The demands of strict scrutiny have not been met, and defendants must be enjoined from their planned religious activities.
Ugh. You can just see this guy in colonial America crying to the heavens that Jefferson’s justification of the revolution based on the claim that people are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” is just one step from a theocracy.
According to the Washington Times, Newdow is so offended he might not go to the Inaguration even though he has a ticket,
The presence of Christian influence and prayer, Mr. Newdow said, have forced him to contemplate not using his ticket to the inauguration because he does not want to feel like “an outsider.”
Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be sorely missed if he doesn’t go.
The other funny feature of Newdow’s lawsuit is all of the right wing Christian types using him as proof that Christianity is under assault by an irrational, creeping secularism. Riiigghhhttt. Look, if Newdow is the best that we atheists can come up with, Christianity is safe in this country pretty much forever.
Newdow is a walking, talking advertisement against atheism. If the right wingers were smart, they’d find a way to fund him.
Source:
Atheist sues to ban hand on Bible. Jon Ward, Washington Times, January 8, 2005.