I agree. God forbid that Little Johnny or Judy learn to actually respect their country .
No student can be forced to recite it. That’s the law, decided by the highest court in our awesome country, and it’s the school’s code.
Why would someone disrespect the laws of our country by forcing someone to do something that violates their rights? That’s not very patriotic, imo.
The Pledge alone does not teach anyone to respect their country. In gradeschool, I had zero understanding of what it meant. It was just something we had to do before we could start class.
It was a waste of time.
Besides, it was written by a minister and a magazine’s promotion department for an event to celebrate the (then) new Columbus Day holiday in public schools in 1892. The minister, in his infinite wisdom,
didn’t include “under God.”
Imagine that!
Anyway, Jehovah’s Witnesses (they’re Christians too, btw!) are prohibited by their faith from “venerating a graven image.”
And, in 1943, the Supreme Court agreed that forcing people to recite The Pledge and venerate a flag infringed on their religious freedom. It violated their First Amendment rights.
The student in this case, specifically, was assaulted for practicing his constitutional rights.
Why would anyone want to deny children their freedom to practice their religion? Or anyone’s right to free speech? That seems unpatriotic to me, tbh. (Denying Americans their constitutional rights is not what the Pledge or our flag stands for, imo.)
But wait, there’s more!
Political and other organizations lobbied to add “under God” in 1954.
Religions of all kinds (as well as believers in none) took issue, saying it’s religiously intolerant to make, say, Buddhists and Hindus repeat allegiance to a single deity, which goes against the teachings of their faith.
If someone doesn’t like kids not standing for or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, curse the groups who politicized it over the years (and still do!!).
Also, blame the lawmakers who believed they knew better than the minister who authored it (!), and further changed it so that it violated our constitutional right of freedom of religion even further.
The Man Who Wrote the Pledge of Allegiance | History | Smithsonian