South Carolina high school student insulted and threatened with punishment for refusing to stand during Pledge.

The original pledge.

Courtesy of American Humanist Association:  

Today the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center sent a letter to officials at the Beaufort County School District in Beaufort, South Carolina, on behalf of an anonymous student who has been denied his constitutional rights to refrain from participating in the school’s daily Pledge of Allegiance exercise. 

The student, a ninth grader at Right Choices Alternative School, identifies as an atheist and opposes the phrase “under God” in the Pledge. When he has attempted to remain seated at his desk in a quiet and undisruptive manner during the Pledge recitation, his teacher has instructed him to stand, has told him that school policy requires him to stand and has also threatened him with punishment. In addition, the teacher has argued with the student about his atheism, has questioned the student’s patriotism and has insisted that his actions are offensive to members of the U.S. armed services. The student contacted the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center through the organization’s DontSaythePledge.com campaign website. 

“Threatening a student with punishment simply for exercising his or her right to sit out the Pledge demonstrates a shocking disregard for the rights of free speech and religious freedom,” said David Niose, legal director of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. 

“No one should have her or his patriotism questioned for objecting to the phrase ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “Doing so marginalizes humanist and atheist kids as second-class citizens merely for exercising their constitutional rights.”

You know at first I was not sure that this whole sitting down during the Pledge of Allegiance would have any impact, but this is starting to look promising.

 My fantasy is that they apply enough pressure that the words "under God" are forever removed from the pledge.

And you know, that might not be such an impossible thing to accomplish. Especially when you consider the fact that the words were put in there in 1954 in response to pressure from the Knights of Columbus.

Of course my next fantasy is about doing away with a nationalist pledge altogether, but perhaps it's best to take these things one at a time.