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[IN] EDU
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TO EDUCATION, AND RELIGION EDITORS:
Rael issues statement of support for plaintiffs protesting the phrase
"under God" in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance
LAS VEGAS, April 25, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International
Raelian Movement and its spiritual leader, Maitreya Rael, today issued
a statement of support for a family that is suing New Jersey's
Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District for keeping the words "under
God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Under New Jersey state law, the
pledge is recited daily by New Jersey schoolchildren.
The suit was filed in March with the assistance of the American
Humanist Association, and a similar case is pending in Massachusetts,
where a ruling is expected soon.
"The plaintiffs in these and other such cases are completely correct
in insisting that a pledge that includes the words "under God" is
discriminatory and detrimental to atheist and humanist students," said
Raelian Guide Thomas Kaenzig, who successfully sued in a Nevada court
for the right to have a separate naturalization/citizenship ceremony
containing no religious references whatsoever, even by the officiating
judge. He was the first person in U.S. history to do so.
"Although the lawyer for the New Jersey school district has stated
that individual students don't have to participate in the Pledge of
Allegiance, it's very clear that a child would feel pretty
uncomfortable remaining silent on the side while everyone else stands
up and recites together as a group," Kaenzig said. "When the majority
of your classmates are voicing the same words day after day, there is
enormous peer pressure to join in. Those who don't participate wind up
being bullied, ridiculed or shunned. And remember, the U.S.
Constitution guarantees us separation of church and state. A law like
New Jersey's that requires schoolchildren to recite something
containing religious words is unconstitutional.
He pointed out that the phrase "under God" was not part of the
original Pledge of Allegiance.
"Many people don't realize it, but those words were only added in
1954, as part of a McCarthy-era tactic to combat communism," Kaenzig
explained. "In 2014, we're long past that repressive and deplorable
segment of U.S. history, and we have a population that runs the gamut
of spiritual beliefs, including a large number of atheists and
humanists. It's time to drop those two words from all public
documents, government publications, oaths and public school
activities, once and for all."
SOURCE Raelian Movement
-0- 04/25/2014
/CONTACT: Kasyo Perrier, 617-967-6179, usa@raelpress.org
/Web Site: http://www.rael.org
CO: Raelian Movement
ST: Nevada New Jersey
IN: EDU
SU: STP POL AVO REL
PRN
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0000 04/25/2014 14:00:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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