A bewildering report from the Norwich Bulletin describes the eviction of the God’s House group from the Moosup Manor housing complex.
9:03 am: Yesterday’s cuddly guru: CNN’s Todd Leopold interviews New Age author Neale Donald Walsch on his latest book, Tomorrow’s God: Our Greatest Spiritual Challenge.
8:45 am: A round-up of pledge reactions:
–“How the Supreme Court might rule if forced to decide the issue remains unclear,” writesDavid Savage in the LA Times.
–From JTA News: “The narrow ruling keeps alive an issue that has divided the Jewish community. While many Jews support the type of ceremonial deism that brings terms like ‘under God’ and ‘in God we trust’ into the governmental context, other Jews increasingly have found problematic the presence of religion or religious references in the public sphere. Furthermore, the ruling suggests limitations to a non-custodial parent’s rights to challenge a third party’s actions. For Jews, that could have implications for child-rearing disputes when interfaith marriages end in divorce.” Read more.
–The National Clergy Council and Faith and Action will celebrate the ruling by unfurling a two-story banner reading “50 Years Under God” immediately across the street from the High Court. The banner will hang there for the next several months. The groups will also hand out pins.
–The American Humanist Association issued a press release entitled, “We’ll be Back,” maintaining their argument that: “The practice of reciting the Pledge in public schools specifically targets children, inculcating them with a monotheistic message not held by millions of Americans.”
—The El Paso Times asked University of Texas political scientist Robert Pallitto how “ordinary people” will see headlines. He suggested “the court has put its power behind Christianity and tried to affirm that we do have a Christian religious tradition in this country. They will see the bottom line — that this was brought by an atheist, and he lost.”