Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Showing posts with label Pledge of Allegiance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pledge of Allegiance. Show all posts
A Lafayette middle school teacher is on paid leave pending the outcome of a police investigation into allegations that she assaulted a student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance on Thursday.
Boulder Valley School District spokesman Randy Barber said that Angevine Middle School physical education teacher Karen Smith, who he called a 20-year veteran of the school district, is on paid administrative leave.
Beating students into showing respect for their country, gee that's a good idea.
Having grown up in the 60's and 70's I know that approach to behavior modification quite well.
As it turns out the Boulder Valley School District has a policy which allows students to sit during the Pledge, but apparently physical education teacher Eva Braun did not get the memo.
Clearly Donald Trump's poison is spreading through the country.
A lawsuit says a Houston student's Constitutional rights were violated when she was expelled for not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Randall Kallinen, an attorney for 17-year-old India Landry's family, said the civil lawsuit was filed Saturday against the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District and a high school principal.
The lawsuit says Landry, who'd been sitting for the pledge in class, was expelled Monday after doing that in the principal's office. The lawsuit says Landry returned to school Friday after the principal reversed course, saying Landry could sit.
Landry, who is black, told KHOU she doesn't think "the flag is what it says it's for, for liberty and justice and all that."
Denying a child an education because they are exercising their 1st Amendment rights?
A tenured professor at Metropolitan State University (MSU) in Denver required students pledge their allegiance to a racist, sexist, homophobic America that targets "blacks," and "women who want abortions," in the name of Jesus.
Dr. Charles Angeletti, a self-proclaimed atheist and socialist professor of American Civilization at the publicly funded Denver university, required students recite the satirical Pledge of Allegiance during the fall 2014 semester according to a class flier obtained by Campus Reform.
"I pledge allegiance to and wrap myself in the flag of the United States
Against Anything Un-American and to the Republicans for which it stands,
two nations, under Jesus, rich against poor, with curtailed liberty and
justice for all except blacks, homosexuals, women who want abortions,
Communists, welfare queens, treehuggers, feminazis, illegal immigrants,
children of illegal immigrants, and you if you don't watch your step.”
Seems accurate to me.
When asked why he had the students recite this, the professor responded thusly:
“We’re very racist, we’re very repressive, we’re very Christian oriented, we don’t tolerate other kinds of thinking in this country,” Angeletti told Campus Reform.
“I could go on and on—and do in my classes for hours about things that we need to do to make this a better country.”
Angeletti, who has taught at MSU since 1967, has a B+ grade on RateMyProfessor.com, but one former student addressed Dr. Angeletti’s liberal bias.
Dr. Angeletti admits he is “biased” and says that he has distributed the pledge for 20 years because it helps people look differently about what goes on in this country.
“We are scared to death of anything un-American,” Angeletti said.
During the interview, Angeletti repeatedly affirmed his love for America, his disdain for “family values people,” and his course, clarifying that he supports diversity of thought and allows his students to “say and do anything.”
Of course this freaked out those on the Right, including Greta Van Susteren who used this to further the Fox News agenda of attacking "liberal" education in America.
It should be noted that this is a UNIVERSITY class that is offered as an elective and is not mandatory for graduation.
Personally I think educators who challenge student's perception of their country, their religion, and even themselves are helping to create a generation of rational thinkers and that can only be good for the country.
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.
Today the American Humanist Association launched a national campaign to encourage people to sit out the Pledge of Allegiance until the phrase “under God” is removed from it.
The campaign includes YouTube video ads, as well as bus stop advertisements placed in New York City and Washington, D.C. Ads will direct viewers to a website, DontSaythePledge.com, which provides information about the history of the Pledge, including that “under God” was not added until 1954, during the McCarthy era, and that a 1943 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on West Virginia v. Barnette gives students the right to opt out of saying the Pledge. The website also provides resources for parents to discuss the Pledge with their children, as well as a way for students to report harassment or bullying they might have experienced for exercising their right to remain seated during the Pledge.
“We want everyone to know that the current wording of the Pledge discriminates against atheists and others who are good without a god, and we want them to stand up for fairness by sitting down until the Pledge is restored to its original, unifying form,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.
“Through the daily Pledge exercise, our public schools are defining patriotism by promoting god-belief while stigmatizing atheist and humanist children,” said David Niose, legal director of the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center. “This violates the principles of equal rights and nondiscrimination, which is why we are currently challenging ‘under God’ in the Pledge with a lawsuit in New Jersey.”
Well this is certainly going to cause a shit storm.
However so be it.
This whole idea is in response to a study that determined that 34% of Americans supported the idea of removing "under God" after learning that it was not part of the original pledge.
I cannot tell you the number of times I had to suppress my frustration while standing with students standing for the pledge. Hell a few times I was even told to lead it.
AHA is right, the words "under God" are NOT part of the original pledge, and if they can be added twelve years after the it was officially adopted by the Congress, then they can be removed sixty years after that.
To be honest I am not exactly pleased that kids are forced to recite any kind of pledge to this country.
There is something very fascist to me to have children all over the country standing together and reciting words of obedience to a country which really needs critical thinkers keeping an eye on it, and not blind patriots excusing every terrible thing that it does around the world.
This country is only great when we demand that it be great, not when we simply convince ourselves that no matter what the future holds it will never be anything less than great.
Taking "under God" out is a good start, but doing away with the whole thing seems an even better choice.
In the year 2024, they apparently still say the Pledge of Allegiance in school, but it doesn’t include the phrase “Under God” and there’s still controversy when people don’t stand during its recitation.
At least that’s the world envisioned in the new CW show “Star-Crossed.”
Now as many of you probably already know, the original pledge did not contain the words "under God."
However that did not stop the conservative outrage.
I live in One Nation UNDER GOD, thank you very much #StarCrossed
— Tammy Swanger (@popcult_maven29) February 18, 2014
I'm not watching this show because they took God out of the Pledge of Allegiance #StarCrossed
— Samantha Sutton (@Sammy_Sutt) February 18, 2014
@seanhannity Another L leaning new show on the CW, just cut "UNDER GOD" out of the pledge of allegiances. Another example of the PC police
— Cathy G (@southpaw816) February 18, 2014
Personally I think the show is probably onto something, I have every confidence that in the future we will probably no longer have religion forced down our throat at every turn.
Then we can live finally in a country that REALLY appreciates the separation between church and state.
Remember the conservatives can make up whatever they want but the history of this country has been written down. You just have to take the time to look it up and refute the BS.
Massachusetts’ highest court on Wednesday (Sept. 4) will consider whether the daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance is a violation of students’ rights.
Since the addition of the phrase “under God” in 1954, the pledge has been challenged repeatedly as a violation of the separation of church and state. In 2004, one case reached the Supreme Court, but ultimately failed, as have all previous challenges.
But the current case before the state’s Supreme Judicial Court, Doe v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, is different because lawyers for the plaintiffs, an anonymous atheist couple, won’t be arguing about federal law but rather that the compulsory recitation of the pledge violates the state’s equal rights laws. They argue that the daily recitation of the pledge is a violation of their guarantee of equal protection under those laws.
This change of tack in pledge challenges is modeled on a successful precedent laid down in the same court on gay marriage. In 2003, Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 in favor of a same-sex couple seeking the right to marry under the state’s equal rights laws. Their win led to similar successful challenges in other state courts — something that could happen here if judges rule for the plaintiffs.
“You would then see a rash of state court lawsuits challenging the pledge all over the country,” said Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is arguing for the defendants. “A win for us would completely avoid that unnecessary harm. And it would affirm that it is not discriminatory to have the words ‘under God’ in the pledge.”
Could we get this lucky?
I have had the unfortunate task of leading schoolchildren in the pledge numerous times while workign for the public school system and I can tell you that when the "one nation under God" part rolled around I damn near gagged on it every time.
To be honest I am not a huge fan of ANY Pledge of Allegiance, it smacks a little of Nazi Germany in my opinion. However at the very least these children should not be forced to pledge their allegiance to a God that many of their families do not worship, and who they themselves are increasingly likely to deny once reaching adulthood.
I can tell you one thing, this case is going to drive the Fundamentalists out of their freaking minds!
I will keep my fingers crossed that it does even more than that.
In 1956, the nation was suffering through the height of the cold war, and the McCarthy anti-communist witch hunt. Partly in reaction to these factors, the 84th Congress passed a joint resolution to replace the existing motto with "In God we Trust." The president signed the resolution into law on 1956-JUL-30. The change was partly motivated by a desire to differentiate between communism, which promotes Atheism, and Western capitalistic democracies, which were at least nominally Christian. The phrase "Atheistic Communists" has been repeated so many times that the public has linked Atheism with communism; the two are often considered synonymous. Many consider Atheism as unpatriotic and un-American as is communism. The new motto was first used on paper money in 1957, when it was added to the one-dollar silver certificate. By 1966, "In God we Trust" was added to all paper money, from $1 to $100 denominations.
The same was true in the case of adding "One nation under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today:
It should be noted that in 2002, Michael A. Newdow, an Atheist from Sacramento, CA, was successful in having the phrase "under God" declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, an act by Congress limited the power of the Judiciary, thus preventing the removal of the phrase.
So not only were the "One Nation Under God" and "In God We Trust" phrases added to reinforce America's true religion, Capitalism, even after the addition to the pledge was deemed unconstitutional, the Congress simply circumvented the wishes of the Founding Fathers.
How patriotic of them.
Apparently nothing is quite as important as making sure that Socialism, Communism, and let's not forget Atheism, are not allowed to gain a toe hold in this country.
You know they can gloss over Bush's criminal activities, and lies told to the American people. all they want, but no amount of gloss will cover the thousands of deaths and devastating injuries that were the direct result of his so called "hard decisions."
I am one of those people who has simply never understood the point of taking a pledge of allegiance to a country. The idea that you would subjugate yourself to the United States, regardless of what kinds of decisions were made by its elected leaders, never set well with me.
Then when you add that whole "one nation under God" part it just turns me into a completely unwilling participant. I did it for the kids in school, as a TA, but I always felt very uncomfortable and hypocritical.
However as I said that pledge up above is certainly one that I would willingly take any day of the week. And wouldn't it be a much kinder, and more peaceful planet if everybody agreed?
A surprise appearance by Gabrielle Giffords provided an emotional lift to an already celebratory atmosphere on the Democratic convention’s closing night, as the former Arizona congresswoman appeared onstage to lead the hall in the Pledge of Allegience.
After reciting the oath, Giffords waved and blew kisses to the audience before being led offstage, as chants of “Gabby” gave way to the Obama campaign’s signature cry: “Fired Up! Ready to Go!”
Okay THAT was awesome!
In other awesome news, I am back on line and also "Fired up, and ready to go!"
This may help you the next time somebody tries to convince you that this country was founded as a Christian nation, or that moving away from religion or God is to move away from the traditions that made this country great.
Do you know what made this country great?
Freedom. And the most important freedom that those who came here were seeking was freedom from having somebody else's religious beliefs shoved down their throats.
Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality (1897).
Francis Bellamy in his sermons and lectures and Edward Bellamy in his novels and articles described in detail how the middle class could create a planned economy with political, social and economic equality for all. The government would run a peace time economy similar to our present military industrial complex.
The Pledge was published in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, the leading family magazine and the Reader's Digest of its day. Its owner and editor, Daniel Ford, had hired Francis in 1891 as his assistant when Francis was pressured into leaving his baptist church in Boston because of his socialist sermons. As a member of his congregation, Ford had enjoyed Francis's sermons. Ford later founded the liberal and often controversial Ford Hall Forum, located in downtown Boston.
In 1892 Francis Bellamy was also a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association. As its chairman, he prepared the program for the public schools' quadricentennial celebration for Columbus Day in 1892. He structured this public school program around a flag raising ceremony and a flag salute - his 'Pledge of Allegiance.'
His original Pledge read as follows: 'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' He considered placing the word, 'equality,' in his Pledge, but knew that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans. [ * 'to' added in October, 1892. ]
(It was not until 1954 that Congress added the words "under God" during the height of the Cold War.)
I have never been much of a fan of the pledge, in that I don't believe ANYBODY should pledge mindless allegiance to their country. To my mind we should always work to keep improving our country, and spreading freedom and acceptance for ALL of its citizens, so that it EARNS our allegiance, rather than feel the need to DEMAND it of our schoolchildren.
When I worked for the school district I often found myself quietly mouthing the words, since I could not bring myself to actually say them out loud, while making sure that I was far enough away from the kids so that they did not notice and start asking me questions which I was neither allowed nor inclined to answer.
In my mind the Pledge of Allegiance always sounded very similar to how the Whitest Kids U Know re-interpreted it.
Between 1924 and 1954, the Pledge of Allegiance was worded:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In 1954, during the McCarthy era and communism scare, Congress passed a bill, which was signed into law, to add the words "under God." The current Pledge reads:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
The Pledge is recited, on average, tens of millions of times a day -- largely by students in schools across America.
As many of you know I worked in the Anchorage School District for a number of years.
Personally I was always very uncomfortable leading the children through the Pledge of Allegiance in the mornings. In fact when I was not in front of the class I would simply place my hand over my heart and move my lips silently because I find the whole thing a little fascist for my tastes. After all simply demanding that children recite a pledge of allegiance to a flag every morning does NOT instill a respect and love of their country. What makes this country great is the freedom to disagree with it's policies and the leaders who implement them.
Of course that is simply my opinion, and I kept my mouth shut and went through the motions for the benefit of the schoolchildren who are not yet ready to deal with such complex issues.
However I think the one part of the Pledge that seems like a no brainer to remove is the "under God" portion. In this day and age with SO many diverse religious beliefs mingling in the public school setting it is very disrespectful to demand that children pledge allegiance to a God that their religious tradition does not accept.
I had Hindu children, Muslim children, and even on a Jehovah's Witness come through my classrooms. And every single one of them were instructed to stand up, place their hand over their heart, and pledge their allegiance to a piece of cloth on the wall and a Christian god. I don't think I will ever forget the confused look on that little Hindu girl's face the first time she was asked to do that.
(By the way the one child who had the most difficult time assimilating into the public school system, was not the Muslim boy or Hindu girl, it was the pupil whose family were practicing Jehovah's Witnesses. They do not believe in ANY holidays (even the watered down "holiday celebration" that replaced Christmas in the public schools) or birthdays. I remember watching this little girl sitting by herself in a corner while the rest of the children enjoyed cupcakes brought in by a mother to celebrate her child's birthday. The little girl was simply not allowed to participate. All I could think at the time was what a shame that after we have achieved so much success in teaching children that we are not identified by the color of our skin that religion can still separate us so dramatically.)
Well I have told you my feelings on the Pledge of Allegiance and the "under God" portion, and since I know that many of you are bright opinionated people I have no doubt that there are those who will not agree with my opinion, so I invite you to tell me what YOU think of the Pledge, and of the portion added in 1954 to frighten away the Commies.
My only request is that we NOT insult people based on their religious, or lack or religious, beliefs. I am all about openly expressing our opinions but let us remember that some people have very strong beliefs that are very important to them. No need to make anybody feel unnecessarily defensive.
