Ok. About the Pledge of Allegiance being declared unconstitutional. When I first heard that, I thought it must be a joke. Kinda like those emails you get which say “Forward this to 10 of your friends and you’ll get a free dinner at Cracker Barrell.” But then I checked cnn.com and found it was true.
My first instinct is to say I could care less what some ultra liberal federal judge says about the pledge. The lawsuit was obviously brought about by some nitpicky atheist who didn’t want his kid exposed to the word “God” in public schools. But then again I see the point. Government should not endorse religion, yet it shouldn’t hinder it either. However I really think that it is being nitpicky. Will the declaration stand? Not likely. The decision is coming at a very particular time. Everyone is patriotic due to the terrorists and the 4th coming up.
Michael Newdow, the guy who brought about the lawsuit, is certainly getting his 15 minutes of fame. He was making the rounds on all the morning shows talking about what a goober he is.
Here is an experience I’ve had with religion in school. My 4th grade teacher, Betty Britnell was a very religious person. Each morning we would have a short devotional which she would give us encouragement for the upcoming school day. Afterwards she would lead the class in a prayer. (Keep in mind this is a public school) At the time I thought nothing of it. I had been to church and this seemed to just be an extension of church. Did the prayers and devotionals scar me? Not in the least. If anything it was a great encouragement to me at the time. Being an impressionable 9 year old, the prayers gave me better self esteem.
In fact, 4th grade was one of the best elementary years. In that class 2 of my good friends were in that class. I am still good friends with them to this day.
In retrospect I don’t think the pledge is hurting anyone. If an atheist doesn’t want his kid to say it, then have the kid sit out of the room or something. This is just getting ridiculous. Newdow wants to go after “In God We Trust” on coinage. I saw something humorous on a discussion board just recently. Somebody wanted all the Californians to send him their “tainted” money.