Texas AG Leads Crusade to Keep God in Presidential Oath
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today made himself one of the most vocal proponents of keeping the phrase “so help me God” in the presidential oath, which President-Elect Obama will recite on Inauguration Day.
In a brief filed in Washington today, Abbott, with backing by representatives from all fifty states, challenged a lawsuit filed on December 30 by assorted atheist groups which claims that the religious aspects of the inauguration ceremony are in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
“Public acknowledgments of God at official functions have been customary since the nation’s founding," argued Abbott. "President George Washington began an unbroken, 200-year tradition when he inserted the phrase 'so help me God' at the end of his oath of office in 1789.... Today, it is common for prayers and oaths invoking God to be incorporated into swearing-in ceremonies across the country."
A hearing is set for January 15.
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