It’s been a while since I’ve stirred up some crap in here. ; ^ P
This is really a 3 part question:
Do you think we should force public school children to say this every day, “under God” and all?
Do you think we should force them to say some sort of pledge, even if it was sans religious reference?
Hypothetically, if we never had a pledge, would you think we should start one (God or no God) and force kids to recite it every day?
What are your answers, and what are your reasons behind these answers?
I personally think no to all three, though I’ll admit that my feelings aren’t strong enough to go beyond complaining about it on the internet. I know it it won’t be long before the pledge goes the way of Bible readings in the classroom. I went through it and it didn’t kill me, so I think others will survive as well.
Sorry, your religious reference don’t belong in my government. Put it in church, at your dinner table, on a bumper sticker, on a billboard, etc. but I don’t think any religion should be using the government for tax supported advertising, and especially not for forced pledges referencing those beliefs.
Even if you removed the religious references, I’m still not a fan of forced pledges. It’s a form of brainwashing and doesn’t support critical independent thought. I’d much prefer a standing observance of the flag while the national anthem plays. I do think encouraging patriotism is important, but not through rote repetition of a pledge.
Obviously my answer won’t change from 1 or 2. I put in 3 to see if some would feel differently it it wasn’t already a “piece of American tradition.”
A relic of a bygone era when all we could focus on was the Red Menace. Which is also when we started putting “god” on everything that would stand still long enough.
I would say it’s unconstitutional for a public school to require children to say the Pledge, regardless of whether it contains the “under God” language. I have no problem if the Pledge is led in school, any child that wants to opt out can. And I don’t think it’s necessary to inform anyone that they can opt out, it’s something they can figure out on their own or with their parents’ or others’ help.
I would prefer that "under God’ language be removed. Not only do I think it’s unconstitutional, I think it’s divisive. But it’s inclusion is not something I’d lose sleep over.
The problem with the pledge or anything else like it stems not from the notion of a pledge but from the irreconcileable conflict between the value we place on freedom and a state-enforced and funded education.
For everyone who says “No, no, and no” to the Pledge, what about the National Anthem? It’s not burdened by religion (the God lyrics aren’t normally sung), but we are almost forced to participate and its similar in purpose and tone to the Pledge, just with a lot more melodrama. Our expected behavior during the playing of the Anthem is US law, and social pressure is fairly coercive to those who don’t comply, e.g. if you’re at a NASCAR race and you turn your back to the flag or sing in Russian during the Anthem, you’d better be ready to fight.
It’s so coercive that I feel compelled, while posting this, to point out that I have no problem with the Anthem, and fully comply with the government-sanctioned behavior. Occassionally I tear up. Sometimes when men don’t remove their caps or don’t stop talking I give them icy, disapproving stares. Am I patriotic, or a mindless subservient drone?
Also, to everyone who says “No, no, and no,” should we require new U.S. citizens, during the naturalization ceremony, to say the Oath of Allegiance?
On a side note, a bunch of interns I met a while back found it very wierd that we started our sporting events with observation of the national anthem. Granted, these guys were from Germany and I’m guessing a lot of that stuff got ditched after it got their country into a whole lot of trouble. ; ^ )
No, no, and no. I would hope the public school system would be competent enough to teach kids as to why they should take pride and feel an allegiance to their country, so that compulsory recital of a pledge would not only be redundant, but recognizable as anathema to the founding ideal of freedom and liberty.