Prayer's OK at Inauguration

A federal court here in California rejected noted atheist Michael Newdow's request to keep prayers out of "W's" second inauguration. Newdow, who is the same guy who challenged the Pledge of Allegiance, made the following comments after the judge's ruling:

"To uphold the Constitution in this case, someone would be castigated beyond belief by a public that wants religion in their government," Newdow said. "That's what people want. There is an inherent bias in a case like this to see if you can find a way out."
Newdow had argued that the inauguration is perhaps the most public of all government-sponsored national ceremonies. It should not provide the president with an opportunity to make nonreligious citizens and non-Protestants feel like outsiders, he said.
"This is like the Super Bowl, the Olympics. It's a civic ceremony like no other," Newdow told Bates in a hearing yesterday. "The president will swear to uphold the Constitution and then violate the Constitution so heinously by endorsing these religious beliefs . . . and telling everyone this is a Christian nation."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9936-2005Jan14.html