Porky Pig is a Communist? Who knew?

From the Religious Tolerance website:

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.