Controversial “Under God” Debate Comes to New London
NEW LONDON, N.H., July 19, 2007 – The complaint was dismissed by a California District Court, reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and dismissed there on a technicality. The issue is whether the “Under God” language should be stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance, and now the debate will come to Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire.
Adventures in Learning, in collaboration with the New Hampshire Humanities Council, will sponsor the “Under God” Debate on Saturday, Aug. 18, from 10 a.m. to noon in Wheeler Hall at the Ware Campus Center on the Colby-Sawyer College campus. The event is part of the Council's two-year, state-wide program, “Shifting Ground: Religion and Civic Life in America.”
The debate will feature Michael Newdow, the physician and attorney whose legal challenge to the “Under God” language reached the U.S. Supreme Court, and Charles G. Douglas III, a former New Hampshire Supreme Court Senior Justice and Congressman from the Second District, who will argue for continued inclusion. Newdow sees the “Under God” debate as a First Amendment issue and argues that “a minority population is made to feel like outsiders…We are a nation of laws to be applied equally for every citizen.” The debate will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
This community forum will be offered free of charge as a public event in commemoration of Adventures in Learning's Tenth Anniversary. While tickets are not required, Adventures in Learning urges those interested in attending to call Janet St. Laurent at 526-3690 to reserve seating.
Adventures in Learning
Adventures in Learning is a community-based program of educational enrichment for adults living in the Kearsarge-Lake Sunapee Region. Sponsored by Colby-Sawyer College, Adventures in Learning provides a peer learning experience for those with a vigorous interest in the world of ideas and for those who wish to continue their intellectual growth in an informal setting. For more information, visit www.colby-sawyer.edu/adventures.
Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Our students learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience.
Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H. 03257 (603) 526-3000
