Joe Lieberman: “In my opinion, having seen a precis of the decision, it offends all logic. The facts of the circumstances are that…”

“In my opinion, having seen a precis of the decision, it offends all logic. The facts of the circumstances are that students, by previous court decisions, are allowed, if they are offended by a part of the pledge that says we are 'one nation under God,' to not say the pledge or, in fact, to leave the room. Secondly, this decision is the most extreme and ridiculous expression of what I take to be a fundamental misunderstanding of the religion clauses of the Constitution, which, to me, promised--if you will allow me to put it this way--freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. They protect the American people against the establishment of an official religion but have always, in the best of times, acknowledged the reality that our very rights, our very existence comes from an acknowledgment of the authority and goodness of Almighty God, and that people of faith, throughout the 226 years since then, in our history, are the ones who repeatedly have led movements that have made the ideals of the Declaration and the Constitution real--the abolitionists, the suffragettes, all those who worked, beginning in the 19th century, and then in the 20th century, on social welfare, child labor legislation, and, of course, the civil rights movement of the 20th century. So I do not see any logic. In fact, I think this decision offends logic. It will outrage the public.”