Pledge of Allegiance Changed...

[Tristan Lall]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

If students object to reciting the pledge, they can bring a written note from home, excusing them from participating. That is my understanding.

This implies that the parents have the right to veto their child's beliefs. When the child is willing and able to make a choice (subjectively right or wrong, as the case may be), this is hardly fair. Parents certainly have the right to influence their children, but there's no need for them to be the arbiters of their child's worldview—children must learn to think for themselves, and must be permitted to develop their own opinions.

Originally Posted by boiler

The idea of incorporating "God" into patriotism is not a novel thing in America - simply look north and listen to "O Canada" sometime.

Quite right that in Canada, we too have patriotic observances with religious themes. However, in my experience and to my knowledge, students are not compelled by regulation to sing O Canada. (For example, religious objectors regularly sit quietly when it is played.)

More importantly, the anthem is poetic and figurative (especially in its French version, which is often heard in unison with the English, even in English-speaking places) rather than a personal and specific declaration of allegiance. Canadians don't literally expect our hearts to glow as we see Canada rise—but Texans presumably do expect that their pledge should be followed literally, as written. That's why I don't really have a problem with O Canada—it's like the Christmas tree sitting harmlessly in the mall, symbolic and not prescriptive.