There is one memorized paragraph that is probably spoken daily by students in an elementary school five days a week. It is not the entire paragraph Americans are concerned with; it’s only four small words. These four words have rattled the cages of the American courts more than any other phrase in the United States. Brace yourself for the breath-taking phrase: “one nation under God.”
Recently, a federal judge in California declared that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional and should not be recited in public schools.
Why are people so worried about kids thinking that God is real? If parents don’t want their kids reciting “under God,” take the kids, not God, out of public schools. I think that God is exactly what we need to teach kids about right now.
The same Supreme Court that has consistently struck down organized prayer in public schools as unconstitutional opens its public sessions by asking for the blessings of God, according to usgovinfo.com. If the Pledge of Allegiance is going to be taken away, the patriotic songs “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” should not be allowed to be played or sung in public schools, either. Let’s gather up all the currency, throw it in a furnace and burn it; we can’t have “in God we trust” on our money, either.
In fact, let’s take up Bibles if students bring them to school, and suspend them if they speak of a “heavenly father.”
How is teaching a child about God so harmful? They get to learn about terrorists, war and other things involving this country, so why shouldn’t they be able to learn about God. He is a big part of this country, too.
The Senate voted soon after the ruling that the pledge was unconstitutional, stating that the phrase “one nation under God” reflects the religious faith central to the founding of the nation and that its recitation is “a fully constitutional expression of patriotism,” CNN reported.
By living in America, we have the chance to voice our opinions on anything we feel the need to. One of those things is religion. By reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, we are using our freedom that we earned and not taking it for granted. If someone has a problem saying the Pledge of Allegiance, no one is going to force him or her to say it in this country.
You are your own person. If you don’t believe in God or in religion at all, it is not a problem. Although I do agree with some points of the opposing sides, and respect everything they say, I believe that taking away the freedom from other Americans who do believe in God, and all that comes with the religion of Christianity, is unconstitutional.
Teaching a child that people are killed every day could cause damage to his or her mind; but to teach a child about unconditional love, I, along with others, see no harm done.
I was not completely against taking prayer out of school. People pray different ways, and no one has the right to force you to pray to God. If a person wants to pray, it is between them and the higher being he is praying to. But I’m sure that if our Pledge of Allegiance said “one nation under no god of any kind,” there would be a riot in the country.
People don’t like the fact that others are forcing them to believe in God, but if we had no one watching over the country, I believe that when it came down to it, we would all be afraid.
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Pledge should keep phrase ‘under God’
Bailey Singletarry
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September 23, 2005
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