I been listening to the news surrounding the California judge who found the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional earlier this week. Now, I remember saying this with my hand over my heart, all through elementary school. I think I get why smaller children are expected to learn this and repeat it every day. I am a firm believer in patriotism and encouraging a sense of citizenship. We are pliable at that age, and want to please grownups very badly, and what better time to start fanning the flames of patriotism?
I'm not so sure how I feel about that "under God" phrase, though. I remember that there was one girl in my first grade class who was allowed to stay seated at her desk while the rest of us recited the pledge. She was picked on from time to time because of this, and questioned by all of us as to why, but being 7, she didn't have a good answer other than, "My Mommy and Daddy don't want me to."
The thing that really confuses me about this issue is the quotes from politicians and lobby groups supporting the daily reciting, who want this phrase kept intact. They keep referring to, "our founding fathers" and telling us to remember the "values that made this country what it is today." Well, didn't the first Americans decide to go to America in the first place because their religion was being persecuted? They couldn't worship as they pleased, so they braved the hellish trip to this country, disease, starvation, and too many other hardships to mention so that they could start a new country. And in this new country those founding fathers made sure that they named Freedom of Religion as part of our Constitution. Shouldn't this ideal be respected today, even if a person decides to have no religion? I think so, and I think I agree with this judge's decision.
Besides, at public schools, school should be school. Not church.
No comments:
Post a Comment