To continue with petition day, I have a matter of of import to some of us.

You may have heard recent complaints at the Airforce Academy in Colorado about the presence of Christian themes and pressures.  Of course chaplains, services and other such opportunities for those who are of faith to participate while they serve have always been a part of the military.  The marines have a prayer that they can chose to recite etc. etc.

Complaints from those usually claiming "tolerance" (for everything other than Christianity), have lead some military groups to bad some of these opportunities for Chaplains to express their faith through the content of their prayers.

A petition has been formed to submit to the President:

"We respectfully request that you, as Commander and Chief, protect by Executive Order the constitutional right of military chaplains to pray according to their faith."

If you agree with this form of addressing this, (is an executive order the right way to address this?), you can do so through the American Center for Law & Justice Petition. 

John G. Roberts Jr. was sworn in as the 17th U.S. chief justice today.

I haven't been following the 3 month ordeal but was pleased today to see the following statements made by Roberts today:

The Senate's endorsement is ``confirmation of what is for me a bedrock principle, that judging is different than politics,'' Roberts said. ``Every generation in its turn must accept the responsibility of supporting and defending the Constitution and bearing true faith and allegiance to it.''

And our President's remarks

Bush, in the East Room of the White House, lauded Roberts as a man of ``integrity, deep humility and uncommon talent'' who will be ``a faithful guardian of the Constitution.''

I hope that he will be a guardian of the constitution, a strict constructionist rather than a deconstructionist.

source:  bloomberg

Many of us have been watching this one for a while. 

A federal judge in California Wednesday ruled that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional.

The case was brought by two families represented by Michael Newdow, an atheist whose case before the U.S. Supreme Court was thrown out because it was brought on his daughter's behalf and he did not have custody of her.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton said the words "under God" violate the right of school children to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God." According to the Associated Press, Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of Newdow in 2002. 

Regardless of what you feel about whether or not "under God" (added in 1954) was anything other than an ackowledgement that freedom does not come from government, the history of the person and organization behind the case is interesting:

CO raises the issue of "Secular Fundamentalism," I think it a good idea to delve a little deeper into this topic, simply because it is one of the great fundamentalisms and dangers of our age.

But first, some definitions:
 

fun-da-ment-tal-ism: A movement or point of view characterized by rigid adherence to fundamental or basic principles.

sec-u-lar-ism: 1) Religious skepticism or indifference. 2) The view that religious considerations should be excluded from civil affairs or public education

The above definitions come from the American Heritage Dictionary: third edition, no friend of conservatism, but a good source for words.

Let us parse these definitions, just a little. 

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A national organization of pro-life gays and lesbians says it supports an unusual bill in the Maine legislature that is causing a nationwide discussion of the issues of abortion and homosexuality.

"Most people would agree that to kill someone just because that person might be gay would constitute a hate crime," Duprey said.

"I have heard from women who told me that if they found out that they were carrying a child with the gay gene, then they would abort. I think this is wrong," Duprey explained to the Press Herald. "Those unborn children should be protected."