[GCFL-discuss] Choice of words

[gcfl-discuss at gcfl.net]

Hi greenBubble,

No, it wasn't Patrick Henry, it was Voltaire who said he would fight to
the death for someone's right to say what he himself disagreed with.
Patrick Henry was the one who described slavery as "repugnant to
humanity" but could not see any way to accept "the inconveniency of
living without them." (Among other things. He also proposed that all
ministers of the gospel should be paid a salary by the state, which all
of Virginia's Baptists, Methodists and New Light Presbyterians
strenuously objected to.)

I like your interpretation of the "under God" clause. I'm not sure those
who inserted it were thinking the same way, but it works.

You are part right about the Supreme Court acting out of cowardice. But
now that I have read the actual text of the full decision and all
dissenting opinions, I think they are groping toward sorting out the
tangled mess of establishment and free exercise law we have acquired.
They need more time, and I am glad they are taking it. The current round
of opinions are a good rough draft to start working from. This needs to
be done well, in a way just about all of us can live with and live under.
I wrote at greater length on that to a friend who has been fighting to
keep a Ten Commandments rock in a city park, but I will refrain from
saying too much here.

Oddly enough, the justices who wanted to make a decision on the merits
had to set aside the argument that Newdow had no business suing on behalf
of his daughter, since she is not offended by the wording of the pledge,
and her mother has full legal custody. Likewise, the justices who did not
want to get into the content did so by agreeing with the girl and her
mother. Such are the technicalities of these cases.

Siarlys


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