So Help Me God

A well-known California atheist and 17 others filed suit today in D.C.’s District Court to strip all references to God and religion from President-elect Barack Obama’s January inauguration ceremony. Michael Newdow of Sacramento, Calif., says he wants to remove the phrase “so help me God” from the oath of office, plus ax the invocation prayer from Pastor Rick Warren, already under fire from the left for his opposition to gay marriage. Michael Newdow, a well-known atheist, argues that any reference to God or religion violates the Constitution and that “By placing ‘so help me God’ in its oaths and sponsoring prayers to God, government is lending its power to one side of perhaps the greatest religious controversy: God’s existence or non-existence.”

The first amendment of the Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress (redress: to set right, remedy or rectify, correction) of grievances."

The amendment clearly states that the president, or anyone else for that matter, can use the name of God in a speech, and atheists are welcome to petition the Government to keep God's name out of that speech. This doesn't sound like a religious fight, this sounds like a political petition to grab media attention for the atheist movement, so I propose we start a petition to add the name of God to every political speech during the month of January. Believers have just as much right according to the Constitution as atheists to petition our beliefs upon the political powers that be. All in favor, say "AYE!"