Pledge of Allegiance
Y'all know what time it is. Please rise and put your right hand over your heart, and recite with me:
I pledge allegiance to Queen Fragg, and her mighty state of hysteria...(Sorry folks. It's a Calvin and Hobbes joke.)
The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday over whether the phrase "under God" is a violation of the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment. It has already been ruled that students cannot be compelled to say the pledge, but if a teacher leads a class in the pledge, there is pressure for everyone to say the pledge, even if it goes against their beliefs. There are religions that prohibit pledging to the flag because they see it as idol worship. There was a girl I knew in 5th grade who believed this. Fortunately for her, all of her friends and her teacher understood, and she was not ridiculed. There are others who would not be so lucky. Because of this, I think that the entire pledge, not just "under God," should not be allowed to be led by public school teachers, in much the same way that they cannot lead prayer. However, I will take what I can get, and removing "under God" is a start.
I hope that the court rules in favor of the plaintiff, but I'm afraid they are going to punt by declaring that the plaintiff, who does not have custody of the child on whose behalf the suit was filed, does not have the authority to file suit. The upside to this punt is that it does leave the door open for another to file suit.
Robert
I pledge allegiance to Queen Fragg, and her mighty state of hysteria...(Sorry folks. It's a Calvin and Hobbes joke.)
The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday over whether the phrase "under God" is a violation of the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment. It has already been ruled that students cannot be compelled to say the pledge, but if a teacher leads a class in the pledge, there is pressure for everyone to say the pledge, even if it goes against their beliefs. There are religions that prohibit pledging to the flag because they see it as idol worship. There was a girl I knew in 5th grade who believed this. Fortunately for her, all of her friends and her teacher understood, and she was not ridiculed. There are others who would not be so lucky. Because of this, I think that the entire pledge, not just "under God," should not be allowed to be led by public school teachers, in much the same way that they cannot lead prayer. However, I will take what I can get, and removing "under God" is a start.
I hope that the court rules in favor of the plaintiff, but I'm afraid they are going to punt by declaring that the plaintiff, who does not have custody of the child on whose behalf the suit was filed, does not have the authority to file suit. The upside to this punt is that it does leave the door open for another to file suit.
Robert
posted at 2:37 PM
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