Editorial for November 24, 2005
By Jim White
I've been trying to understand Californians for years. While I have known some really wonderful people from the Golden State, some of them seem, well, about 3,000 miles to the left.
The infamous U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California is at it again. A three-judge panel of the court has decided that parents of public school children “have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students.” The ruling came because some parents objected to a survey given their first, third and fifth graders. The consent forms failed to mention that questions about sex would be on the survey, and when the parents learned from their kids that questions like “Do you think about touching the sex parts of other people's bodies?” had been asked, the parents were understandably upset.
I don't claim to be a prophet, but if this decision stands I can foresee a sharp increase in private school enrollment!
It was also the Ninth Circuit Court that decided “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. That ruling was declared null by the United States Supreme Court. But a new and different challenge is underway.
According to Baptist Press, “Michael Newdow, the atheist whose challenge of the Pledge of Allegiance reached the United States Supreme Court, filed a lawsuit filed Nov. 17 in federal court in Sacramento, Calif. Newdow charged the national motto is unconstitutional and should be removed from the United States' paper money and coins. Newdow's suit claims ‘In God We Trust' violates both of the First Amendment's religion clauses, which ban government establishment of religion and infringement of the free exercise of religion. The suit also says the motto violates his free speech and equal protection rights.”
I wonder if Thanksgiving Day will be challenged next? Thanksgiving is a curious holiday that has, thus far, seemingly escaped Mr. Newdow's notice. Or is it just further down on his list? Do you suppose Michael Newdow will show up for work on Thanksgiving Day? Surely he will not be so hypocritical as to take a day off to celebrate a national holiday declared for the purpose of thanking God for his blessings and assistance! After all, when an atheist celebrates Thanksgiving, who does he thank? Does he humanize it and use it as a day to thank his barber for not sheering him too closely? “I wish to thank the newspaper delivery man for doing what he is paid to do, and I'd also like to thank that other driver for letting me cut in.”
For that matter, if there is no Giver can there be gifts? If there are no gifts, where is the reason to be thankful? Thankful for what? Thankful to whom?
I can see Mr. Newdow's attorney attempting to argue the case. “By being forced to acknowledge Thanksgiving Day my client is being forced to give thanks to a God he doesn't believe in. His right to live a completely thankless life is being infringed on. He is being forced against his conscience and will to consider that he may owe something to a power beyond himself and greater than himself. My client should be protected from such an infringement on his freedoms.”
Assumptions are dangerous in the best of circumstances, and since I don't even know Mr. Newdow they are especially so. Still, I assume he will take the holiday from his work without the slightest twinge of guilt. I imagine he will feast on traditional holiday fare, spend the day with family and watch football. I don't imagine he will set aside time to be thankful.
The part that bothers me is not that Mr. Newdow will be ungrateful. That's his right, and given his history, he will undoubtedly exercise it. What bothers me is that most of the 95 percent of Americans who say they believe in God or even the 80 percent who believe in a personal God who watches over them will do exactly as Mr. Newdow will do. Food. Family. Football.
I don't seriously expect a court to take exception to Thanksgiving Day because it has become woven into the fabric of tradition. Sadly, for most of America it is a cultural event, not a religious event.
It isn't right, of course, to enjoy all of what God has given us without giving him thanks; and although God will be saddened by it, he will not be threatened by it. God will not be diminished by our ingratitude. We, on the other hand, will be.