[thechat] What?? WHAT?????

[Janet Green]

Plucked just now from a local tv news website:


SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court in San Francisco has declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.

The court finds that it's an endorsement of religion -- and cannot be recited in schools.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 1954 act of Congress that inserted the phrase "under God" after the words "one nation" in the pledge.

The court says the phrase violates the separation of church and state.

A judge wrote that a statement that we are one nation "under God" is no different than saying we are a nation "under Jesus" or "under Vishnu" -- or a nation "under no God."

He says none of these statements can be neutral with respect to religion.
Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.