Quote:
Originally posted by dhamsaic
One doesn't <b>have</b> to say the pledge of allegiance. Like I said, I got away all through high school without saying it once. I love my country, but I haven't said the pledge for almost seven years. I'll tell my kids that they don't have to either, if they don't want to. And if they have any shit about it in school, I'll be on the phone. Freedom of speech also entails the freedom to not speak, and one cannot force them to say something that they don't want to.
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This is true. But imagine what the fundies would do if they were suddenly transported to Bizarro World, where the relevant section of the Pledge went like this:
"one nation, under NO gods, indivisible..."
or
"one nation, under Allah, indivisible..."
or
"one nation, under Odin, indivisible..."
...and their kids were surrounded by sheep^H^H^H^H^Hclassmates dutifully reciting the oath word-for-word, because that's what they'd been taught to do from their earliest school days.
They'd go BALLISTIC at the notion. How DARE they subject good Christian children to affirmations of someone ELSE'S religious beliefs (or lack thereof)! How DARE they create an environment where their kids are stared at by their classmates, because they're weirdos who won't chant along with the rest of the group!
And, yet, the average American Bible-thumper can't grasp the irony that that's _exactly_ how many atheists and non-Judeo-Christians feel about God being plastered all over American culture, government and currency.
Blah.