Supreme Court Will Hear Pledge of Allegiance Case

Decaffeinated Jedi writes "As reported in this CNN.com article, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case next year (most likely in June) involving whether public schools can lead students in a 'voluntary' recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. At issue in this case is whether the inclusion of the phrase 'under God' in the pledge constitutes an establishment of religion on the part of the state and an infringement on students' religious liberty when it is recited in the public school setting. This case comes to the Supreme Court as an appeal of the June 2002 ruling made by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals--a decision that led to one of the most active stories in Slashdot history." The CNN article's emphasis on voluntariness -- "whether schoolchildren can be allowed to recite the Pledge voluntarily" -- is grossly misleading, almost propagandistic. Most states have laws requiring the pledge to be recited every day as a class activity, and these are the laws in question. In theory students shouldn't be punished for failing to recite along with the rest of the class (due to a previous Supreme Court decision). No state has a law prohibiting anyone from reciting the pledge voluntarily, whenever they want to.

Comments

Michael, why is this on Slashdot?

[pjl5602]

What exactly does this have to do with "News for Nerds, Stuff That Matters"?

Re:It's a matter of timing

[AKnightCowboy]

Is there anything wrong with the Pledge? Is there anything wrong with saying it? Is there anything wrong with believing what you are saying? Is there anything wrong with having pride in your country, even if you don't agree with its government sometimes?

I have a problem with mindlessly repeating something you really don't understand or aren't interested in. As a 7 year old kid I sure as heck didn't understand the pledge of allegiance, nor did I care. It's just something I was forced to say by the teacher or you'd get in trouble.

I have the same issues with organized religion now that you mention it. Everytime I find myself stuck in a church during mass (weddings for example) I feel like I'm in some kind of cult gathering where people are repeating words in a zombie-like trance. I'm sure you've heard it. Priest says something long and unintelligible, everyone drones out something else. It's really very frightening to think people get indoctrinated into such a group-think atmosphere.