Who would confirm an atheist to Supreme Court?

The first principle of the American Republic is that God has given men rights no government can deny.

That is the argument the Founders made repeatedly to an unheeding British Parliament and king that taxed them without representation and shut down their colonial legislatures. That is the argument Thomas Jefferson made in the Declaration of Independence when he wrote that all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."

That is the argument Ben Franklin made in 1787 when he insisted the Constitutional Convention open with a prayer.

That is the argument George Washington made when, taking the oath of office as our first President, he placed his hand on-a Bible and swore his loyalty to the Constitution, saying: "So help me, God."

That is the argument James Madison made when, at the same time he was writing the 1 st Amendment, he supported the law hiring a chaplain for the House of Representatives.

And that is the argument Congress made in 1954, when by uncontested voice votes in both chambers it added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Now, notoriously, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that American schoolchildren are prevented by the Constitution from reciting the principle that inspired the Constitution.

Whether this ruling stands may be determined by a U.S. Supreme Court that recently banned voluntary prayers at high school football games.

HUMAN EVENTS Assistant Editor David Freddoso went to Capitol Hill last week with this question: In light of the 9th Circuit decision, would senators confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court?

Given the 9th Circuit Court's recent decision on the Pledge of Allegiance, would you vote to confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court?

SEN. ROBERT BENNETT (R.-UTAH):

Sure. I don't think that a person's religion, one way or the other, should be a disqualifying situation. There should be no religious test for national office. That should be very clear.

Senator, the Declaration of Independence says that our rights come from God. Can someone who disagrees with that idea effectively protect our rights?

BENNETT: I think that he or she could intelligently interpret the law without agreeing with that particular phrase. I think the phrase is very clear. Rights do not-come from government, but they are spelled out in the Constitution under that understanding, and if you are dealing with an honest jurist rather than an ideologue, and that jurist doesn't happen to believe in God, he or she would still be capable of interpreting the law intelligently. Given the 9th Circuit Court's recent decision on the Pledge of Allegiance, would you vote to confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court?

SEN. MAX CLELAND (D.-GA.): I just got through dealing with another heavy issue. I have to go to the office right now.

Given the 9th Circuit Court's recent decision on the Pledge of Allegiance, would you vote to confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court?

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R.-UTAH): I think that it would be very hard to get an atheist through the system. But if the atheist was willing to abide by the law and really literally willing to do what's right-you know, it would depend on what his attitude is about the law, what his attitude is about other people's rights, what his attitude is about religious rights.... If that all fell together, sure.

We have some very decent atheists who respect the rights of others and who respect the rights of religion. So it depends on the person. It depends on . . . whether they're in the mainstream of the law, whether they are honest and decent people. There are a hundred factors. Have to have good temperament and a hundred-and-one other things.

The Declaration of Independence says that our rights come from God. Can someone who rejects that premise still be able to--

HATCH: Well again, you can be an atheist without rejecting that premise. As an atheist, you might say well, I'm an atheist, but I do feel people have the right to believe the way they want to. And if that person is in the mainstream of the law.. I would not disqualify anybody. I don't think we should have a single litmus test on anything.

Given the 9th Circuit Court's recent decision on the Pledge of Allegiance, would you vote to confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court?

SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R.-OKLA.): No, I would not. To me, that totally contradicts everything that this country is founded on-including our Constitution, including our original oaths of office. Back in the colonial days, the whole purpose that people came here and lost their lives was to achieve the freedoms, of which the major freedom is freedom to love your Lord.

Given the recent decision on the Pledge of Allegiance by the 9th Circuit, would you vote to confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court?

SEN. Tim JOHNSON (D.-S.D.): Ah, that's a hypothetical issue. I don't-I have no answer.

Given the 9th Circuit Court's recent decision on the Pledge of Allegiance, would you vote to confirm an atheist to the Supreme Court?