BREAKING: Pledge of Allegiance Unconstitutional

By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - For the first time ever, a federal appeals court declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional Wednesday because of the words "under God" added by Congress in 1954.

The ruling, if allowed to stand, means schoolchildren can no longer recite the pledge, at least in the nine Western states covered by the court.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the phrase amounts to a government endorsement of religion in violation of the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which requires a separation of church and state.

"A profession that we are a nation `under God' is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation `under Jesus,' a nation `under Vishnu,' a nation `under Zeus,' or a nation `under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion," Judge Alfred T. Goodwin wrote for the three-judge panel.

Yup, the Pledge of Alliegence has been declared unconstitutional. Unlike the majority of people here in conservative Eville, IN, I agree with the court's decision.

Just remember, what would you feel like if you moved to India and your child had to recite "India, united under the great, holy, and almighty Vishnu" in school...

Hello, my name is Sibo Lin. This is my release for all my opinions about random 'stuff'. But you can't respect my opinion about 'stuff' until you get to know me...so here's some background information: I am going to be a junior in high school, and plan on attending Signature Charter School next year here in Evansville, IN. As a high school junior, I might not receive a lot of credibility- but I assure you that I am a decent foreign extemper.

"Huh? What is a 'foreign extemper'?"

Well, foreign extemporaneous speaking is an event in high school speech where the contestants receive questions on foreign events (ex: "Is Bush's shift in Middle East policy prudent?") and have 30 minutes to prepare and memorize a speech. After the prep time, a seven minute speech is given answering the received question (ex: "Bush clearly has lost his mind. But to further understand this, we must look at three reasons why Bush's shift is not prudent. One, blahblah, two bloopbloop, and three blahbloop. First, lets discuss reason one, blahblah...)

I've made this blog to help maintain my extemp skills- so you can rest assured that material on this site will be of my highest quality, because I wouldn't maintain my extemp skills by throwing up random posts.

So hang out and peace and 'stuff'.