Trump Lies, Claims Democrats Omitted God From Pledge Of Allegiance At Convention

August 22, 2020 By Michael Stone

Liar-in-Chief: Incapable of telling the truth, President Donald Trump is roasted on social media after making the false claim that Democrats omitted God from the Pledge of Allegiance during the Democratic National Convention.

Earlier today Trump tweeted:

The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn’t. It was done on purpose. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it’s done. Vote Nov 3!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 22, 2020

The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn’t. It was done on purpose. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it’s done. Vote Nov 3!

Trump’s claim is false. While it would actually be a good thing if the Democrats removed God from the Pledge of Allegiance, it simply didn’t happen.

Snopes reports:

The DNC did not omit “under God” from the pledge, nor did they forbid its use. In fact, during every recitation of the pledge before each night’s events — the 2020 DNC lasted four nights — the phrase “under God” was included.

Here, for example, is a video of Cedric Richmond Jr., the son of Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., reciting the pledge (and saying “under God”) during the final night of the DNC.

Trump’s lie about the Democrats is a transparent attempt to raise concern among gullible, low-information conservative Christian voters.

As one might imagine, Trump was roasted on social media for his dishonesty:

You’re lying. Again. You don’t even know the words to the Pledge of Allegiance. You’re so stupid and unpatriotic, you don’t even know the words to “God Bless America.” pic.twitter.com/xtKsQiAUVV

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) August 22, 2020

The video of all four nights is online.

On Monday, the pledge was said by @JoeBiden‘s grandchildren: https://t.co/GJWtojjnPQ

Tuesday: https://t.co/efaAbi2Q4l

Wednesday: https://t.co/7MaiJyhP9z

And Thursday, by @CedricRichmond‘s son: https://t.co/mYvj86Ljtq

— American Atheists (@AmericanAtheist) August 22, 2020

1) Not only is this false, it is exactly the reason we need to restore the pledge of allegiance to its original form. “Under god” was added to the pledge in 1954 at the height of McCarthyism and continues to be weaponized as a litmus test that conflates faith and patriotism. https://t.co/Sbes49A9V4

— Sarah M. Levin (@SarahMLevin) August 22, 2020

The founding fathers would never have allowed the word God in the Pledge of Allegiance. That was added by warmongers looking for Christian endorsement decades ago. You literally know nothing about this country’s history.

— JenMarie (@JenMarieStones) August 22, 2020

This is another straight-up lie. Here’s a link to the Pledge of Allegiance being said, with “under God” included. It was said that way every night of the convention. https://t.co/bqHrRS0Keo

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) August 22, 2020

FACT CHECK: Democrats said the word “GOD” in the Pledge of Allegiance on all 4 nights of the Democratic National Convention.

CONCLUSION: Donald Trump is either lying or his dementia is worse than previously believed.

— Mrs. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) August 22, 2020

Bottom line: A dishonest President Donald Trump is roasted on social media after making the false claim that Democrats omitted God from the Pledge of Allegiance during the Democratic National Convention.

Trump Lies, Claims Democrats Omitted God From Pledge Of Allegiance (Image via YouTube)

11-Year-Old Florida Student Arrested After Refusing To Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance

February 18, 2019 By Michael Stone

Miseducation: An 11-year-old Florida student was placed under arrest and suspended from school after refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Earlier this month an 11-year-old African American student at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland, Florida refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. When asked to stand for the Pledge by his substitute teacher, the boy refused, while explaining that the American flag is racist against black people.

Bay News 9 reports:

An 11-year-old Polk County student refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, and after explaining his reasons, he was kicked out of class and eventually arrested…

He was also suspended for three days.

The incident happened at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland on February 4. The sixth grader was arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center, charged with disrupting a school function and resisting arrest without violence.

According to reports the student told a substitute teacher that he didn’t want to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, declaring:

The flag is racist and the national anthem is offensive to black people.

This was too much for the substitute teacher. In a statement to the district, the substitute teacher, identified by district officials as Ana Alvarez, recounted her conversation with the student.

Alvarez asked:

Why if it was so bad here he did not go to another place to live?

According to the teacher the student replied:

They brought me here.

She said she replied by saying:

Well you can always go back, because I came here from Cuba and the day I feel I’m not welcome here anymore I would find another place to live.

Alvarez concluded her report by noting:

Then I had to call the office because I did not want to continue dealing with him.

Yahoo reports that a Polk County Public Schools public relations specialist issued a statement denying that the student was suspended and arrested for failing to stand for the Pledge, claiming that the student was “disruptive” and failed to follow instructions:

A student at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy was arrested after becoming disruptive and refusing to follow repeated instructions of school staff and law enforcement. This incident followed the daily Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom. Unfortunately, a substitute teacher was not aware of this. We are looking into this matter, but this individual will no longer be allowed to substitute at any of our schools. Our HR department will contact Kelly Services (which provides our substitutes) to further refine how our substitutes are trained.

The good news is that the incompetent substitute teacher has been banned from the district. The bad news is that so far the school administrators and local police involved in this unjust arrest are not being disciplined.

It is also important to note that the law clearly states that students are not required to stand for and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and can not be compelled to do so.

On its face, the idea that an 11-year-old student would be arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center for refusing to stand for the Pledge and being disruptive in the process is simply absurd, and reflects poorly on every adult involved in such a draconian overreaction.

While it may be appropriate to discipline a student for being disruptive, it is never appropriate to arrest a non-violent 11-year-old who is simply expressing passion for what some might consider to be a controversial political opinion.

In short, the substitute teacher, the administrative staff at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy, and the local police are all guilty of a shameful and deplorable overreaction that stinks of racial and political bias.

Bottom line: In a moral failure for all adults involved, an 11-year-old Florida student was arrested and suspended after refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance while expressing a controversial political opinion some conservatives may find offensive.

11-Year-Old Florida Student Arrested After Refusing To Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance (Image via Wikimedia) — 11-Year-Old Florida Student Arrested After Refusing To Stand For Pledge Of Allegiance
(Image via Wikimedia)

School nurse abuses student who refused to stand for Pledge of Allegiance

April 9, 2015 By Michael Stone

A middle school nurse in Pennsylvania refused to treat and verbally abused and humiliated an 8th grade student for refusing to stand during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

The American Humanist Association (AHA) has sent a letter to Carlisle Area School District on behalf of the Wilson Middle School student who was verbally abused and harassed by the school nurse for exercising the constitutional right to remain seated during the Pledge of Allegiance.

According to the letter, the student was in the nurse’s office with several others when the school’s Pledge recitation was conducted. She quietly remained seated during the exercise, raising the ire of the school nurse who then criticized her and even refused to attend to her. Badgered and humiliated, the student left in tears.

Referencing the 1943 case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, David Niose, legal director of the American Humanist Association, said:

“The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that public school students have the unequivocal right to opt out of participation the Pledge of Allegiance exercise. There is no excuse for a school staff member to humiliate and bully a student who chooses to exercise this right, and the nurse’s refusal to service the student is particularly egregious.”

According to the Friendly Atheist, the American Humanist Association is not asking that the nurse be fired. Instead, the AHA is asking for a written apology to the eighth grader, and for the school district to officially inform students that they may remain seated during the Pledge. In addition, the AHA wants the district to instruct staff that they may not discipline students who refuse to participate in the Pledge.

Late Thursday, Carlisle school officials released a statement saying the district is investigating the claims. District administrators issued the following statement to the media:

The Carlisle Area School District is aware of reports that the district allegedly violated a student’s right to opt out of the Pledge of Allegiance. The district is investigating the matter at this time. The District has and will continue to protect the rights of all students and staff. Under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act and other applicable laws, the District is not permitted to disclose details of its own investigation or to otherwise comment on situations involving specific students or staff.

The AHA reports the student contacted the group through its BoycottthePledge.com website.

Readers can find out more about the campaign to support the right of public school students to opt out of the Pledge as well as the ways in which the phrase “under God” in the Pledge discriminates against atheists, humanists and other nontheists, here.

(H/T Friendly Atheist, AHA)

Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Agnostic student punished for dropping ‘under God’ from Pledge of Allegiance

November 10, 2014 By Michael Stone

An agnostic California high school student was punished with detention and a reduced grade after omitting “under God” while leading his school in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Derek Giardina, a 17-year-old student at West High School in Tracy, California, was punished because he omitted the reference to God while fulfilling a speech class requirement that requires students to lead the Pledge of Allegiance 12 times every year.

Tracy School District spokesman Sam Strube says while school leaders respect all students’ rights not to say the pledge, Giardina was disciplined because the reading was an assignment. Strube said:

“A public forum where you’re going to represent the school is not a place where you can voice a controversial issue and force that on other people.”

Every student in Giardina’s speech and debate class is required to perform the assignment 12 times a year. The first two times Giardina recited the pledge he used the 1954 version, which included “under God.”

The third time Giardina’s conscience got the best of him, and he skipped over “under God,” choosing to recite the original version of the Pledge, which makes no mention of gods.

As a result, his grade was dropped, and he was warned by school officials if he omitted the phrase again, he’d be in trouble. He did, and now he has detention as well as a lowered grade.

Giardina says:

I think it’s very wrong that you get disciplinary actions for thinking for yourself. Personally I wouldn’t say the pledge at all, because I’m not necessarily very patriotic, and I’m not religious.

There’s something disciplinary happening because of my religious beliefs.

Prior to 1954, the Pledge of Allegiance made no reference to any god. The phrase “under God” was added during the height of the cold war, a dark time when Americans fear of “godless communism” was rampant.

Giardina said his fight will go on:

“I don’t want someone else to have to fight for this; this should be unnecessary,”

The American Humanist Association has launched a national campaign to encourage individuals to sit out the Pledge of Allegiance until the phrase “under God” is removed from it.

Secular Americans campaign to remove ‘under God’ from Pledge of Allegiance

September 8, 2014 By Michael Stone

Godless and Proud: Secular Americans and other patriots are supporting the “Stand up for America by Sitting Down” campaign to call out the intolerant and discriminatory phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance.

In protest of the misleading and divisive phrase, the American Humanist Association has launched a national campaign to encourage individuals to sit out the Pledge of Allegiance until the phrase “under God” is removed from it.

The campaign includes YouTube video ads, as well as bus stop advertisements placed in New York City and Washington, D.C. Ads will direct viewers to a website, DontSaythePledge.com, which provides information about the history of the Pledge, including that “under God” was not added until 1954, during the McCarthy era, and that a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on West Virginia v. Barnette gives students the right to opt out of saying the Pledge.

The website also provides resources for parents to discuss the Pledge with their children, as well as a way for students to report harassment or bullying they might have experienced for exercising their right to remain seated during the Pledge.

About the campaign Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, said:

“We want everyone to know that the current wording of the Pledge discriminates against atheists and others who are good without a god, and we want them to stand up for fairness by sitting down until the Pledge is restored to its original, unifying form.”

David Niose, legal director of the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center, said:

“Through the daily Pledge exercise, our public schools are defining patriotism by promoting god-belief while stigmatizing atheist and humanist children. This violates the principles of equal rights and nondiscrimination, which is why we are currently challenging ‘under God’ in the Pledge with a lawsuit in New Jersey.”

From Don’t Say The Pledge:

“Under God” wasn’t part of the original Pledge of Allegiance. Those two words were added to the Pledge in 1954, when the country was in the grip of McCarthyism and communist witch-hunt hysteria.

Before 1954, the Pledge affirmed that we were “one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Indivisible means we can rise above our differences, religious or otherwise. Liberty means the right to act and speak freely no matter what one’s faith or philosophy may be. And Justice, of course, means equal rights for all, regardless of whether or not we believe in a deity. The Knights of Columbus – a Catholic men’s group – led the lobbying effort to add “under God.” Now the Pledge is twisted, with divisive religious language that implies true patriots must be believers.

With “under God” added, the Pledge is not a statement of patriotism. Instead, extremist preachers and politicians point to the language to validate their view that those who don’t believe in God don’t belong.

A Supreme Court case – West Virginia vs. Barnette – gives students the absolute right to sit out the Pledge, for any reason. Schools might not tell you about this right, but if anyone questions you about sitting out the Pledge, contact the AHA’s Legal Center.)

In support of the Don’t Say The Pledge campaign, American Atheists, Inc. (Official) Facebook page told followers:

Remember, you have a First Amendment right not to stand for or recite the Pledge, whether called upon to do so in the classroom, in city council meetings, or anywhere else.

If it is safe for you to do so, we encourage you to join us by NOT standing during public recitations of the Pledge.

A recent study from The Seidewitz Group that found 34 percent of Americans supported removing the phrase “under God” after they learned it only came about in 1954.

Don’t Say The Pledge:

Until the Pledge is restored to its inclusive version, we can take it upon ourselves to refuse to participate in what’s become a discriminatory exercise.

Whether you are religious or not, you can make a statement for true inclusiveness. Support liberty and justice for all, and support indivisibility. Stand up for America by sitting down during the Pledge of Allegiance until the inclusive version is restored.

‘Under God’ in Pledge of Allegiance discriminates against atheist children

April 22, 2014 By Michael Stone

A freethinking family in New Jersey is suing the local public school district, claiming the regular recitation of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance discriminates against atheist and other non-theist children.

Religion Clause reports the American Humanist Association announced earlier this week that it has filed suit in a New Jersey state court challenging New Jersey’s statutory requirement that schools open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance that includes the phrase “under God.” The complaint (full text) raises only state constitutional claims, and contends that the daily classroom exercise unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of religion against plaintiffs who hold Humanist or atheist religious views.

The American Humanist Association claims that the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance violates Article 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, which states, “No person shall be denied the enjoyment of any civil or military right, nor be discriminated against in the exercise of any civil or military right, nor be segregated in the militia or in the public schools, because of religious principles, race, color, ancestry or national origin.”

The American Humanist Association also points out that the original version of the Pledge did not include the phrase “under God.” In fact, that wording was added in 1954, during the “godless communist” scare of the McCarthy era.

“Public schools should not engage in an exercise that tells students that patriotism is tied to a belief in God,” said David Niose, attorney for the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center. “Such a daily exercise portrays atheist and humanist children as second-class citizens, and certainly contributes to anti-atheist prejudices.”

The fact is, it is wrong to ask students to take part in a pledge that makes atheists, freethinkers and other non-believers feel marginalized.

In the end, the daily exercise of reciting the phrase “under God” in public schools favors a particular religious view and defines patriotism according to a particular religious belief. This is wrong, and contrary to the secular values upon which this nation was founded.

The Pledge should be restored to its original version. The phrase “under God” should be removed. Children should not be made to feel that love of country is contingent upon belief in religious superstition.

Porky Pig recites the Pledge of Allegiance before “under god” was added to it.

San Bernardino Shooter Pledged Allegiance To Islamic State

December 4, 2015 By Michael Stone

Tashfeen Malik pledged allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State on the same day she and her husband killed 14 people in San Bernardino.

CNN and multiple other sources are reporting that Malik, the wife in the husband and wife team behind the California mass shooting, allegedly posted a note of support for Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Facebook under a different name, either during or right before the deadly attacks.

Tashfeen Malik, 27, and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, were killed in a shootout with police hours after Wednesday’s massacre at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in San Bernardino

Previous reports indicate the husband and wife team behind the California mass shooting that killed 14 in San Bernardino were both devout Muslims.

Yesterday reports surfaced that Malik’s husband, Syed Farook had been radicalized by Islamic jihadis currently under FBI investigation. Law enforcement officials report Farook was apparently radicalized and in touch with people being investigated by the FBI for international terrorism.

The LA Times reports Farook, was born in Illinois of immigrant parents from Pakistan, and was a Muslim who was recently “radicalized” when he visited Saudi Arabia. He returned to the U.S. with a wife, Malik, whom he had met online.

FBI agents discovered a huge arsenal of weapons and pipe bombs at the California home belonging to Farook and his wife Malik.

At the home agents discovered nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition, a dozen pipe bombs and hundreds of tools for making improvised explosive devices at the property.

According to reports, the couple dropped off their baby with her grandmother, saying they had a doctor’s appointment, before they went on their deadly rampage.

Investigators believe #SanBernardino female attacker Tashfeen Malik pledged allegiance to ISIS leader, officials say https://t.co/iJHMPrgAEd

— CNN (@CNN) December 4, 2015

Alabama Senate Candidate Roy Moore Wants To Criminalize Gay Sex, Abortion

November 25, 2019 By Michael Stone

U.S. Senate candidate and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore says he wants to criminalize gay sex and abortion, just like they did in the good old days.

Moore, who has announced he is running for the U.S. Senate again, says he wants to take the U.S. back in time when gay sex and abortion were illegal.

Speaking to the Huntsville Republican Men’s Group earlier this week, Moore said:

We have got to go back to what we did back in the sixties and seventies back to a moral basis. We did not have a national healthcare system. You know when Obama passed this thing rising all our costs and business started going down the tube everybody said it was going to be repealed. You never hear anybody in Congress talk about it now. Our indebtedness was $22 trillion. Back in the sixties and seventies it was much lower. It was a sixth of that. Abortion was not legal when I went to Vietnam. It was passed later. It was OK’d later. We had abortion laws in our country and our state. We did not have same sex marriage. We did not have transgender rights. Sodomy was illegal. These things were just not around when my classmates and I went to West Point and Vietnam.

Moore continued, complaining about “atheists and secular humanists” taking away the Pledge of Allegiance:

We had the Pledge of Allegiance. We said the Pledge of Allegiance. We had morning devotionals. I know most of you in here over the age of sixty probably remember days like that. We are continually under attack from atheists and secular humanists who want to take those laws from us.

And Moore is also angry that “gender identity” is being taught in schools:

We have drag queens teaching kindergarten children in this state and this community….in Huntsville in Mobile they taught kids and they dress them up in drag. Where does this come from? Gender identity is being taught in California to young kids and parents have no choice but to let their kids be taught that.

Many Alabama Republicans continue to support Moore despite the fact that in November 2017, during a Senate special election in Alabama, nine different women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, child molestation, and pedophilia against Moore.

According to multiple reports the Alabama politician sexually abused a 14-year-old-girl and pursued many other teenage girls while in his early 30’s.

The fact is, Roy Moore is a dangerous religious extremist and a moral monster not qualified to hold any public office.

For example, Moore rejects science in favor of religious superstition, and rejects the indisputable fact that biological evolution is true. Previously Moore explained his rejection of science to the Washington Post, claiming:

There’s no such thing as evolution… That we came from a snake? No I don’t believe that.

Moore, like Trump, is also a white nationalist and a birther who repeatedly questioned Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president.

In addition, Moore believes the Supreme Court decision allowing gay marriage is worse than the decision upholding slavery.

In short, Moore is a dangerous religious extremist who places his Christian faith above the U.S. Constitution, and believes that “God is the only source of our law, liberty and government.”

In fact, Moore was removed not once, but twice, from his position as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for his refusal to obey the law because it conflicted with his extreme Christianity. Once because he refused to obey a federal order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state supreme court, and another time for refusing to obey the Supreme Court decision affirming marriage equality.

Indeed, the GOP senate hopeful believes that God punishes the U.S. for immoral behavior, and “God’s law” can invalidate federal court decisions.

Previously Moore declared:

God is the only source of our law, liberty and government.

Bottom line: Roy Moore, a dangerous Christian extremist who sexually abused a 14-year-old-girl, and pursued sexual relationships with other underage girls while serving as a district attorney, wants to criminalize gay sex and abortion.

Alabama Senate Candidate Roy Moore Wants To Criminalize Gay Sex, Abortion (Image via YouTube)

Waffle House Shooter’s Mom Claims Lack Of School Prayer Causes Mass Shootings

April 24, 2018 By Michael Stone

The mother of Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking is a Christian homeschool advocate who claims mass shootings are caused by a lack of prayer in school.

Earlier this week Reinking was taken into custody after killing four people of color and wounding two others at a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee, early Sunday morning.

According to reports, Reinking, 29, of Morton, Illinois, began shooting patrons and employees with an AR-15 rifle about 3:25 a.m. at the 24-hour restaurant on Murfreesboro Pike in Antioch, near Nashville.

The Chicago Tribune reports Reinking came from a Christian family and was home-schooled:

He came from a Christian family and was home-schooled.

In addition, Reinking collected guns, struggled with mental health issues, and identified as a sovereign citizen.

It has also been revealed that Reinking’s father, Jeff Reinking, promised authorities he would confiscate his son’s weapons after young Reinking was arrested while protesting as a sovereign citizen at the White House in 2017. However, the Waffle House shooter’s father gave the weapons back to his son after promising to confiscate them, with tragic consequence.

As for Reinking’s mother, Judy Reinking, she had an active social media presence prior to her son’s heinous crime. Heavy reports that social media posts from Reinking’s mother “are laced with Christian references,” some of which deal with parenting, the benefits of Christian homeschooling, and even school shootings.

For example in 2016, she shared a graphic that read:

When you carry a bible, the devil gets a headache. When you open it, he collapses. When he sees you reading it, he faints. When he sees you living it, he flees…

In 2015, Reinking’s mother shared a graphic on school shootings. It reads:

I don’t remember a single school shooting when I was a kid. What I do remember is our teacher having us begin the day reciting the pledge of allegiance, reading from the Bible and praying. We also had the Ten Commandments on the wall. Maybe getting rid of those things wasn’t such a good idea after all!

In 2010, she wrote:

So thankful for the best gift I’ve ever been given- JESUS!

Heavy reports that Reinking’s mother also “shared a note on a homeschool convention shared by the Association of Peoria Area Christian Educators” as well as photo’s praising Ken Ham’s Arc Encounter and Creation Museum, a project devoted to teaching and promoting the false notion that Biblical creationism is a legitimate scientific theory.

Bottom line: Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking was raised in a Christian family, was home-schooled, and was given unlimited access to guns.

And so it goes.

Trump Promotes Christian Nationalism At National Prayer Breakfast

February 8, 2018 By Michael Stone

Promoting Christian nationalism, President Trump claims America is a nation of believers at the National Prayer Breakfast.

In a speech implying that every American is or ought to be a Christian, President Donald Trump insulted and attacked every non-Christian in America while delivering remarks at today’s National Prayer Breakfast.

Trump’s speech referenced Jesus and the Christian God numerous times, while completely ignoring the more than 35% of Americans that are not Christian.

During his speech, Trump erroneously claimed:

America is a nation of believers and together we are strengthened by the power of prayer…

Trump is wrong. In reality, America is a nation of believers and non-believers, and to suggest otherwise is simply dishonest.

Over and over again Trump implied that America was or should be a Christian nation.

At one point Trump declared:

As the Bible tells us, for we are God’s handiwork, created in Jesus Christ to do good works.

At another point Trump opined Christian faith is “central to American life and liberty.”