Look, I understand that there are people of other religions in this country. I have no problem with that and I respect people of faiths other than my own (what little there is of it anyway). I just think that if you’re Buddhist and in a public school you should say “One Nation Under Buddah”, and if you’re muslim and in a public school you should say, “One Nation Under Allah”.
The pledge isn’t about praying to my god. It’s about pledging to your God that you will be a part of America alongside all the other Americans that are pledging with you. That’s what it’s about. It has nothing to do with Christianity in its intent IMO.
I think that kids should be able to say whatever they feel comfortable saying when they say the pledge. If they are allowed to do that there should be no concern over whether the pledge is said in a public school or not.
But… some bozo had to go and make a big deal out of it for the sake of his daughter. It was later discovered that his daughter and ex-wife turned out to be a very devout Christians. You know, the sort of folk who would not choose to stop saying “under God” in the pledge.
So today, after being turned down by SCOTUS last year, the case has reared its ugly head again and a ruling is expected from a U.S. District Court in California. This ruling could change the way California schools say the pledge. In fact, it could create circumstances where California students don’t say the pledge at all.
I think it’s sad. When I spoke to my daughter this morning about what she thought about it, she said that it would be sad if she couldn’t say the pledge the way she’s always said it. She also said that she thought other kids should say what they believe when they get to the “under God” part of the pledge. She’s such a good kid. Most children are and most children have her attitude and are unaffected by the politics of adults until adults choose to impose those politics upon them.
I get tired of watching our public school systems get mired down in the politics of adults, when what they should be focusing on is the education of our youth. Children are being left behind in our public school systems for reasons far too numerous to think about. The most troubling of those reasons, is a perceived lack of ability to learn on the part of the child. Everyone is capable of learning, but often public schools have so much to teach in the school day, because they are required to cover so many topics that range far and away from preparing children for a college education, that the school doesn’t bother with the child and moves on.
The last thing our schools need is our politics. More than anything else, they need our help and instead we give them crap like this.
How nice of us.
