Evaluation of 5 sources

Procon.org Article:

This article by Procon.org was very informative. It spoke of how the Pledge of Allegiance came about and also had supporting statistics for keeping the “under God” phrase in it. The time of the article was not presented in the article or on the page anywhere. The published date of the article does not matter because this is a pressing issue that is still relevant today. I would use this article in my paper to support my opinion of the matter. I would also use this article because of the statistics stated in the article.

Christian Science Monitor Article:

            This article was written by Michael B. Farrell. He is a credited staff writer at the Christian Science Monitor. The article was published earlier this year. I was able to fully comprehend this issue just by reading through this article. The argument in the article was fair and presented both sides of the issue and was not one-sided.

CNN Justice Article:

            This article was published by CNN, a very credible source. The article was dated on the same date of the rulings. This article was well written and it also had other links throughout the article to further support the article. I would use this article in my paper. I would use this article because it had real life examples in it.

USA Today:

The article was published by USA Today another credible source. The article was published two years after the first rulings began. I was able to comprehend the article. I would use this article in my paper. I would use it only to support my opinion on the matter.

Humanismbyjoe.com

            This article was published on humanismbyjoe.com. The date of was not disclosed in the article. However the issue at hand in the article has been more relevant today than twenty years ago. This article was hard to follow at times. I would use this article. I would use it to argue against.

Article Summaries

‘Under God’ in Pledge ruled unconstitutional

            According to CNN.com a federal appeals court ruled that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because of the phrase “Under God”. They 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals feels that it is an “endorsement of religion”. Later the 9^th Circuit Court Appeals remanded the case to a lower court, but if the ruling was to stand it would be applied to the nine state school districts that are covered by the 9^th Circuit Court. When the US Senate got wind of this issue they were outraged, they then asked the Senate Counsel to intervene in the case. Later that day there were between 100-150 House members gathered in front of the Capitol who were reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to show their support for it. Among those in support of the Pledge of Allegiance was President Bush, he believes that the rulings were ridiculous. The 9^th Circuit Court stated that “The pledge is an impermissible government endorsement of religion” and it sends a message. The message being that if you do not believe in God, then you are an outsider, and to those who do believe in God that you are favored members of the political community. Then the 9^th Circuit Court proceeded to say that when they inserted “Under God” in 1954, that it was a time when the government was publicly inveighing against atheist communism. After the 9^th Circuit Court stated that, the Supreme Court said that their statement was a fact that the federal government did not dispute.

Supreme Court rules on technicality Article Summary

            According to an article from USA Today, the Supreme Court reversed the lower courts decision, which said that reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. However the Supreme Court did not decide whether this common practice for most school children was religious indoctrination. This case was brought against a California school district by Michael Newdow, an atheist father who lacked the legal standings to sue the districts because he did not have custody of his daughter. Eight court justices described the pledge as a patriotic exercise that was designed to encourage national unity and not a religious declaration. This case was testing the line between state and church. For example when the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the recitation of “under god” by school children in 2002 the public outcry was immediate. Also the Bush administration backed the California school district in their time of need. The resolution for whether the practice of the pledge violates the separation of church and state is most likely years away. One opinion that Chief Justice William Rehnquist stated when joined by Sandra Day O’Connor and Clarence Thomas was that a student who pledges allegiance to the flag promises “fidelity to our flag and our nation, not to any particular God, faith or church.” However Michael Newdow later stated that he was sure another atheist would sue and have the pledge struck down.

Flag

Should the confederate flag be flown?
http://www.fitsnews.com/2009/11/19/the-confederate-flag-debate-is-back/

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/display_detail.htm?StoryID=72446

 Should the burning of the American Flag be illegal?
http://www.dailycampus.com/2.7438/flag-burning-should-be-illegal-1.1073324

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1775093211&SrchMode=1&sid=21&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1288891558&clientId=9417

King

Is  Technology ruling America  like a king rules his country?
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/with-lg-viewty-in-hand-feel-like-the-king-of-world.html

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=15&sid=f93f6f33-93d8-4123-8772-051ddabb8283%40sessionmgr12

Was honoring Martin Luther King by  making his birthday a national holiday the right thing to do?
http://www.christianet.com/holidays/martinlutherkingholiday.htm

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=15&hid=15&sid=a0157b0b-50fe-423d-8a12-f9977b09180d%40sessionmgr10

God

Do you think that "God" should be taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance?

http://articles.cnn.com/2002-06-26/justice/pledge.allegiance_1_appeals-court-9th-circuit-allegiance-in-public-schools?_s=PM:LAW

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=7&hid=15&sid=a0157b0b-50fe-423d-8a12-f9977b09180d%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=J0E164515985304#db=aph&AN=J0E164515985304

http://undergod.procon.org/

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0311/Federal-court-approves-under-God-in-Pledge-of-Allegiance

http://www.humanismbyjoe.com/Pledge_and_Under_God.htm
Should God be spoken of in public schools?

 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/nyregion/18kearny.html?_r=1

http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2001011200&type=query&num=god+in+public+schools&

http://www.prlog.org/10041304-church-becoming-less-relevant-amongst-teens.html summary

           In the "Church becoming less relevant among teens" article which I found to very informative and enlightening. It taught me why church is becoming less relevant to teens. The importance of religion among teens is being lost because of technology and these peer to peer networking sites. Due to the increase of online activity as well as school and work it leaves very little time to attend church and worship. For Instance these networking site like facebook, myspace and twitter all enable today's teens to create their own virtual society instead of interacting in the real world society.

http://socialismisnottheanswer.wordpress.com/ summary

This article gives kind of a back story on Imam feisal Abdul rauf and gives in detail the plans he has for the building of this mosque. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf building this mosque where the World Trade Center once stood is disrespectful and wrong. The funding for the moque is provided by unknown donors who are from the same place as the hijackers who bombed the World Trade Center. For instance three of the original participants in the 9/11 attacks all listened to the same preacher that Major Hasan did. He is a violent radical who operates out of Yemen. Although no one knows the background of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf the mayor's office has yet to tell us anything at all.

Victory

Should we consider the war in Iraq a victory?
http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20109020304
http://www.aarp.org/relationships/caregiving/info-05-2008/iraq-vets-the-war-inside.html
Is a victory worth it when we are losing so many soldiers and people in war?
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0314-02.htm
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/blumenthal/2006/05/25/bush_iraq/

If the mosque is built in front of the World trace center is that a victory for muslims or just a slap in the face to the United States of America?
http://socialismisnottheanswer.wordpress.com/2009/12/16/mosque-at-the-world-trade-center-muslim-renewal-or-insult-near-ground-zero/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39079160

Faith

Why are more and more people losing Faith in God?
http://www.covchurch.org/cov/news/item6565
http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/category/letters-from-leavers/

Is Faith relevant among american youth?
http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/category/letters-from-leavers/
http://www.prlog.org/10041304-church-becoming-less-relevant-amongst-teens.html

Should Public Schools be taking Faith based words or symbols out of  them?
http://dangeisel16.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/faith-of-our-founding-fathers/
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/education/whschoolsummit/transcript.html