"Miranda warning" for the Pledge of Allegience

[nebula]

Imagine, every morning in schools across America, children warned before they recite the Pledge of Allegiance that they have the right not to

[Believer1997]

The thing that really shocks me about this article is the ruling of the Supreme Court in 1943 - a time when our country was embarking on a world war and there was such uncertainty ...

The Pledge's popularity aside, the Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that mandating a student to participate in the oath was an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment right to free speech. The Supreme Court has already said that schoolchildren cannot be required to recite the oath that begins,

[other one]

My wife has done this every year for a really long time. She sends out notices to all her students parents letting them know they will be reciting the pledge and there are times when the kids pray in her classroom (when it is not disrupting learning) They talk about it in the orentation meeting she has with most of the parents and it's really not a big deal.

Jehova's Witnesses have very good resaons for not saying the pledge and though I and my wife would disagree with them, they have the right to not have there children pledge or make an oath to anything but the Lord. She will have an occasional family that will not want their child to do so and she makes it as easy on the children who do not. It's also not good to make an issue out of it so the kids aren't bothered about it.

[O'Dannyboy]

The language is very subtle but there is a difference between an oath, a pledge, a promise and to swear. IMO an oath is a formal guarantee of commitment and a pledge is an informal statement of commitment. Again it's very subtle but id does change the context in which they apply. A pledge and a promise are informal and personal. An oath and swearing are more formal and carry more weight because they tend to put something on the line such as their family name or are done in the presence of witnesses.

I have a question. If these children must be given the opportunity to "opt out" of saying the pledge of allegiance then how is it they can be forced to wear uniforms without being given a choice? How is it that schools in FLA were permitted to force children to watch Obama's broadcast? You see. The whole public school system is a complete violation of children's right to chose so how is it they can be forced to attend school but should be allowed to chose whether or not to speak a pledge to the nation that is paying for their education? To me this is sending mixed signals and it's no wonder our children are so mixed up.

[Burning_Ember]

Having the right not to say the pledge is part of the First Amendment promising freedom of speech. You cannot force that without infringing or abolishing the First Amendment. You also aren't forced to pledge allegiance to anything that you don't want to, so it is also your rights that are being protexted.

Selectively applying freedom of speech makes it only free speech that one side agrees with, and that can work both ways.

[Rick-Parker]

Having the right not to say the pledge is part of the First Amendment promising freedom of speech. You cannot force that without infringing or abolishing the First Amendment. You also aren't forced to pledge allegiance to anything that you don't want to, so it is also your rights that are being protexted.

Selectively applying freedom of speech makes it only free speech that one side agrees with, and that can work both ways.

You mean like what was done to conservative speakers at Columbia and other universities when Bush was president? How hypocritical is that? Liberals keep putting their foot in their mouths now that the shoe is on the other foot. Wonder how that dirty sock tastes?

[Blien]

This is just stupid. Kids are not stupid, they know their rights. When I was in elemtry school, every morning we had to sing the O'Canada Anthem which has us pledge our allegiance to the Queen of England. I chose to say silent as some of my other classmates. So this is not an issue. People these days are so shallow nitpicking over minor things when the world has other major issues we should be thinking about. IRAN, North Korea, the terrorists, health of citizens, etc.

It's amazing that in 2009, people waste their time debating over such minor things. I was watching a documentary on the Cold War and THAT was amazing. The class and manner they had, how everyone was focused on National issues which had huge repercussions not just for the United States but the world. Today's politicians though are so busy trying to make their individual selves happy that they miss the larger issues.

[Guest yod]

Wonder how that dirty sock tastes?

Like the rest of the dishonest hypocrisy they perpetrate so they can't tell the difference...

[OneLight]

It just goes to show you how much society has changed the US. I remember both saying the Pledge of Allegiance and the "Out Father" every morning before school, and it was seen as a positive enforcement of beliefs. Today, sin abounds and has taken over the lives of so many that this is no longer the case. Mentioning the word God rebukes the disbelief of these people and is the only reason why they are so adamant to have it stopped. They are convicted with just His name and can not stand it, so they will continue to do their best to have it removed form as many places as possible.

Isn't it a blessing to see that God is living and still convicting those who are living in sin!

[Burning_Ember]

Having the right not to say the pledge is part of the First Amendment promising freedom of speech. You cannot force that without infringing or abolishing the First Amendment. You also aren't forced to pledge allegiance to anything that you don't want to, so it is also your rights that are being protexted.

Selectively applying freedom of speech makes it only free speech that one side agrees with, and that can work both ways.

You mean like what was done to conservative speakers at Columbia and other universities when Bush was president? How hypocritical is that? Liberals keep putting their foot in their mouths now that the shoe is on the other foot. Wonder how that dirty sock tastes?

That has nothing to do with what I said whatsoever, and incidents like that are abominable. Making partisan hack attacks like that don't help.

The freedom to stay silent is also the freedom to speech. That means students have the right not to say the pledge of allegiance, which also gives you the right to protest against the current administration. Freedom of speech means all speech, the students not to pledge allegiance, and yours to protest.

Selectively applying freedom of speech as it applies to political standpoints steeps heavily in the direction of being a tyrant, and Obama has not been restricting freedom of speech in such a manner.