Atheist groups and private citizens rallied for complete separation of church and state Saturday afternoon at the south steps of the Capitol.
A group of roughly 100 people, led by the American Atheists Texas State Director Joe Zamecki, called for the removal of the newly included phrase "under God" in the Texas Pledge of Allegiance. The State Legislature passed HB 1034 this spring. The bill, authored by State Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, added the phrase "under God" to the Texas pledge - effective Sept. 1, 2007.
A previous state law passed in 2003 made it so students in Texas public schools recite the pledge daily.
The protestors on Saturday also objected to the state-sponsored moment of silence, a voluntary teacher-led quiet reflection time which was also included in the 2003 law, which Zemecki described as a "waste of precious learning time."
Zamecki said the state's actions are what churches want, not what students need.
The rally was also meant as a show of support to the Croft family of Carrollton who filed a suit against Gov. Rick Perry over the moment of silence. A federal court ruled against the Crofts on Aug. 28, 2007.
Over a dozen speakers took the podium on the Capitol steps to speak about separation of church and state. The participants, from atheist leaders to regular citizens, said they saw the state Senate as biased in favor of religion.
Patrick Greene of San Antonio called the pro-religion stance of the state legislature an infringement of his liberty.
"Freedom based on the Bible would be a dictatorship," Greene said.
Terry McDonald, chairman of Metroplace Atheists, criticized the state legislature as being dominated by religion.
"This senate stands for Judeo-Christian values," McDonald said.
Nick Lee of the Freethinkers Association of Central Texas told the crowd in his speech that atheists should stop accepting the negative image associated with them since they only want fairness.
"We come here not as an anti-religion rally but to protect civil liberties," Lee said.
McDonald said he wanted to make atheists more accessible as members of communities.
"We want to show that we live normal lives as patriotic citizens," he added.
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