"It's like going to the middle east and going "well, guess what fu****s?! you cant practice islam in public anymore, stop doing it, it bothers us, thank you"
If you'd rather move to the Middle East and live under a fascist government where everyone was forced to practice one religion, then be my guest. Personally, I've been to the Middle East, and I hope that America never models its religious practices after those of any nation in that region. But please, move there if you feel your religious beliefs will be trampled on too much by returning the pledge of allegiance to it's original verbage. The issue at hand here is whether or not people should have the belief in God forced on them; since America was founded on the principle of religious freedom, then the pledge, in its current form, should be voluntary. Just because a student isn't comfortable saying "under God" doesn't mean that they don't "proudly believe in the country and the flag", rather that they don't want to have religion forced down their throats (like in the Middle East). The constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"; by forcing students to say "under God", IMHO, they are making laws respecting the establishment of religion.
It's the same issue with the 10 Commandments monument in Alabama -- not that it was displayed in public, but because it was displayed in a government building. Any citizen could put a 10 Commandments monument on their front lawn and there would be no issue; however, when a member of the government puts the monument in the foyer of one of their courthouses, that is indicative of sponsorship of the Christian religion, and that is wrong, since America is not solely a Christian nation.
"You know what the real reason for this is? Anally retentive pricks who have to have the world shaped their way"
I'll bet you'd feel differently if the phrase was "one nation, under Allah". Just a guess. But then I guess that might make you a hypocrite...
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"It's like going to the middle east and going "well, guess what fu****s?! you cant practice islam in public anymore, stop doing it, it bothers us, thank you"
If you'd rather move to the Middle East and live under a fascist government where everyone was forced to practice one religion, then be my guest. Personally, I've been to the Middle East, and I hope that America never models its religious practices after those of any nation in that region. But please, move there if you feel your religious beliefs will be trampled on too much by returning the pledge of allegiance to it's original verbage. The issue at hand here is whether or not people should have the belief in God forced on them; since America was founded on the principle of religious freedom, then the pledge, in its current form, should be voluntary. Just because a student isn't comfortable saying "under God" doesn't mean that they don't "proudly believe in the country and the flag", rather that they don't want to have religion forced down their throats (like in the Middle East). The constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"; by forcing students to say "under God", IMHO, they are making laws respecting the establishment of religion.
It's the same issue with the 10 Commandments monument in Alabama -- not that it was displayed in public, but because it was displayed in a government building. Any citizen could put a 10 Commandments monument on their front lawn and there would be no issue; however, when a member of the government puts the monument in the foyer of one of their courthouses, that is indicative of sponsorship of the Christian religion, and that is wrong, since America is not solely a Christian nation.
"You know what the real reason for this is? Anally retentive pricks who have to have the world shaped their way"
I'll bet you'd feel differently if the phrase was "one nation, under Allah". Just a guess. But then I guess that might make you a hypocrite...
Take a look at the up2date program...same basic functionality...sends a list of ALL of your RPMs to RedHat. How is this any different?
The ACLU isn't a Jewish organization. It's headed by a gentleman named Anthony Romero (a latino) and it's members include people of all backgrounds.
Now is the time to stand up for your rights. Become a member:
www.aclu.org