(2005-01-14) -- Just hours after losing his bid to prohibit Christian prayer at the presidential inauguration ceremony, atheist Michael Newdow filed a motion to have the court remove references to God or religion from all official records of his most recent legal proceeding, Newdow v. George W. Bush (PDF).

"In the court's 50-page ruling alone," said Mr. Newdow, "I was shocked to find 10 mentions each of God, Christianity and church, 14 uses of the word 'religion' and 12 of 'faith,' three instances of 'divine' or 'divinity,' no fewer than 44 mentions of Christ, and 256 appearances of various forms of the word 'prayer'. And I haven't even read the transcripts yet."

The fact that taxpayer dollars funded the production of these documents, he said, represents a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

"My participation in this breach of the wall between church and state is a source of deep shame for me," Mr. Newdow added. "I feel dirty."