July 12, 2002

(AgapePress) - The credibility of the Pledge of Allegiance case brought by a California atheist is coming under increasing skepticism. And a Christian activist in the Golden State says there may be a conflict of interest involving one of the judges who ruled the Pledge, in its current form, is unconstitutional.

Atheist Michael Newdow argued that his daughter was offended by having to say the Pledge of Allegiance at her school because it contains the words "under God." The three-judge panel appeared to accept that in ruling last month that the Pledge, because of those words, was unconstitutional.

But in the last week, it has been learned that Newdow's daughter is actually a Christian, as is his former wife, Sandra Banning. Both attend a Calvary Church in Elk Grove, near Sacramento. Banning's lawyer, Paul Sullivan, says she is now exploring ways to intervene when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rehears the case.

"This young girl is not an atheist and was never injured by including the words 'one nation, under God' in the Pledge," Sullivan told Associated Press. That same report indicates this latest development could force Newdow to recast the basis of his lawsuit as injuring his right as a parent to direct the religious upbringing of his daughter. AP reported earlier that Newdow was trying to raise the eight-year-old as an atheist, but he now denies that allegation.

Jerry Falwell says these latest revelations prove Newdow's entire case is a sham. In a press release, Falwell says it is now apparent that the "atheist glory hound" has used his daughter to gain national prominence to promote his own godless agenda.

Beach Protest
Meanwhile, concerned Christians in California will spend part of their weekend demonstrating in front of a beach house owned by one of the two judges who made the controversial ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. The demonstration will take place Saturday in front Judge Stephen Reinhardt's beach house. Reinhardt was joined in the June 26 ruling by Judge Alfred Goodwin, who one day later stayed his vote. [See Earlier Article]

Saturday's protest in Marina Del Rey is led by Pastor Wiley Drake of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park. "We're going to go out there and protest and have a beach party near his home to let him know that we are still one nation under God," the pastor says.

Drake is encouraging people from the local faith community to participate in the demonstration on Saturday, as is local radio talk-show host Warren Duffy of KKLA.

Conflict of Interest?
Drake, who says the ruling should be overturned, says there may be a conflict of interest involving Reinhardt. He contends the judge should have recused himself from the case because he is married to an official with the American Civil Liberties Union, which has been known to look for opportunities to reduce the freedom of individuals to exercise their religious rights in the public arena.

In fact, according to a 1998 report from Coral Ridge Ministries, documents establishing the ACLU in 1920 listed ten goals of the organization. "Among [those goals] were defending certain aspects of the First Amendment," the report stated. "However, there was one significant liberty [freedom of religion] missing completely from their list."

Drake views last month's court decision as another attempt by a liberal judge to eliminate the historical Christian heritage of the United States from the public domain. "[The ACLU has] tried to get God out of schools [and] they succeeded. They tried to get prayer out, they succeeded," Drake says. "Now they're trying to get God out of the Pledge -- they have succeeded, but we want to stop them."

Public records show that as of 1998, Reinhardt and Ramona Ripston declared themselves as husband and wife. Ripston is currently the executive director of the Southern California chapter of the ACLU.