To Pledge or not to Pledge? That is the question...

This topic is close to my heart. An 11-year old in California refused to stand for the pledge of allegiance. His teacher questioned him and the district will apologize.

While some states require the pledge to receive class time, I don't think there is a single law that does or even can require students to say it.

I am as patriotic as the next guy, but I have many problems with the pledge. It seems so bizarre that we teach kids to say it in school before they know what half the words mean. Utah state law requires that the class takes time to say it each day. An Australian substitute I had made an interesting comment: the only other country she had ever seen where the kids swear allegiance is China. Ouch.

Secondly, why is it that a country with no established religion has the words "Under God" in a supposedly secular setting. I'll tell you why, and it has nothing to do with religion. During the height of the Cold War, we wanted to show that we weren't those Godless commies in the Soviet Union. So In 1954, a Republican Dominated 83rd session of congress added a joint resolution to add the phrase to our pledge.

My two questions for today:

1) Do references to God in our pledge, currency, national motto (In God we Trust), infringe upon the rights of Atheists, and should we have these references in our country?

2) Is having a national pledge indoctrination? Should we have one at all?


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/10/25/calif-district-to-apologize-to-11-year-old-who-didnt-stand-for-pledge/