A couple of commenters on a previous post take me to task for disparaging raging atheist Michael Newdow and say no "reasonable person" could be against some of his efforts, such as restoring the Pledge of Allegiance to its original form and eliminating the "In God we trust" motto from coins.
It happens that I disagree with those who think this is a "Christian nation" in any formal sense, and it would be dangerous to try to make it so. But people like Newdow waste enormous time, effort and money over issues that have nothing at all to do with real imposition of a state religion, which is what the First Amendment was meant to guard against.
What it usually comes down to is that some people are offended by certain religious symbols and expressions, and there is no constitutional right to not be offended. What these efforts usually lead to is something extremely stupid, such as this attempt to remove a cross that has been standing as a war memorial in San Diego for 50 years, I would guess without forcing a single person to become a Christian.
The case also involves a creatively unique, though probably quixotic, use of eminent domain.
