Should children be required to recite the Pledge
of Allegiance?
American Thinker,
by
Charlotte Cushman
Original Article
Posted By: ladydawgfan,
6/29/2021 4:36:29 AM
On May 20, 2021 the state of Iowa passed a law “that requires all Iowa schools to lead the Pledge of Allegiance once a day in grades 1-12.” Governor Nordman said,
“We don’t pledge our allegiance to a government or a leader. We pledge our loyalty to an idea – the American idea. We pledge our loyalty to the greatest social experiment to ever happen on this planet. This is why I believe the Pledge of Allegiance is so important.”
However, the law also states: “A student shall not be compelled against the student’s objection or those of a student’s parent or guardian to recite the pledge.”
Reply 1 - Posted by:
pinger 6/29/2021 5:49:01 AM (No. 829956)
I don't think that kids should be REQUIRED to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I think they should be taught to appreciate all the things the American Flag stands for and taught by their parents to DEMAND TO RECITE the Pledge of Allegiance.
21 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
chance_232 6/29/2021 6:04:22 AM (No. 829963)
The reciting pledge of allegiance can be required. Individuals are free to participate or not. It was that way waaaaaaaay back in the 70's.
14 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
navybrat 6/29/2021 6:38:28 AM (No. 829982)
Yes! We recited the pledge of allegiance back in my school days. There were a few students who chose not to because of religious reasons, but they stood quietly and peacefully and no one gave them any grief. No big deal was made and everyone got along.
17 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Strike3 6/29/2021 7:10:00 AM (No. 830003)
When the time comes to recite "I love Big Brother" you can bet your leg irons that it will be required.
20 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
udanja99 6/29/2021 7:10:15 AM (No. 830004)
My kid would rue the day she refused to recite the pledge. But that’s a hypothetical because she never would have done that. I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s and it was part of the daily routine at the beginning of each school day, along with the Lord’s Prayer. It never would have occurred to anyone to refuse to do either. But then I was born 7 years after WWII and that conflict was still fresh in every adult’s mind and a huge influence on the way we were raised.
25 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Periwinkel 6/29/2021 7:21:36 AM (No. 830019)
I went to school in Iowa from first to eighth grade and we said it each morning. I wonder when they stopped? That was a long time ago.
10 people like this.
Don't kid yourself. Know the facts. Many, many states begin each school day with the pledge and a moment of silence -- and have for over twenty years. What Iowa is doing is nothing new. But, the only way for this action to pass constitutional muster (under SCOTUS decisions made long after the founding) is for it to be voluntary.
That said, I imagine teachers DO teach the reasons a person could be proud of America and appreciate it. Yet knowing a thing a acting upon it are two different things. For example, you know how to tighten your stomach, with sit-ups, but are you doing them? People KNOW John 3:16 but can they be forced to believe it? People CHOOSE not to appreciate America's blessings, often preferring instead to wallow in our failures to live up to our highest of ideals, just like that recent case of the Olympian.
You can't teach a feeling, an attitude, or a belief. That comes from within. SCOTUS made sure that public schools cannot enter into that domain. But churches and families can.
Now we COULD have public school teachers function as an "O'Brien" (Winston Smith's nemesis in 1984) and force them to declare their love and appreciation for the country. But that would break the children.
The best things we could do for this nation is to restructure the economy so that at least one parent can remain home, return to church and community service attendance and activities, and rely on ourselves, our families, and our communities for support and assistance.
As long as national allegiance and appreciation is centered around (a) government, inculcated by government teachers in government schools, it's never what one may consider to be "real".
5 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Trump'sCousin 6/29/2021 7:32:19 AM (No. 830035)
YES!
10 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
mathman 6/29/2021 7:45:41 AM (No. 830055)
If you believe Bai-Den Zhou won the 2020 election, then you must believe that the Pledge Of Allegiance must be abolished. Zhou pledges allegiance to only one flag, and that flag is Red. Bai-Den, you see, has been bought and paid for by the Chinese Red Army. The payment was made through Hunter Bai-Den.
Why else would the U S Military now serve Critical Race Theory?
Remember: all those who died and were interred under the U S Flag were serving a monstrous lie of White Power. Once White Power is recognized, the United States can go back to be a large collection of American Indian fiefs. And we can scrap all that industrial power.
That will fix the problem of folk wanting to come here. There will be nothing to come for.
4 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
EJKrausJr 6/29/2021 8:11:14 AM (No. 830094)
Yes.
7 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
BarryNo 6/29/2021 8:36:30 AM (No. 830141)
Yes
6 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Moritz55 6/29/2021 9:25:47 AM (No. 830178)
I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. We recited the pledge every morning. It wasn’t “required.” It was simply done. I do remember a classmate who was a Jehovah’s Witness quietly leaving the room and returning once we were done, but no one thought much about it.
9 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
RayLRiv 6/29/2021 9:47:20 AM (No. 830213)
Why not? It's a beautiful Pledge.
Just before I leave my car and go through the front gates at work I tune a local radio station (WAKY FM 103.5 and 106.3, near Radcliff / Ft Knox) every day a little after 6AM. The station plays the National Anthem and I make a point to sing it to start my workday.
10 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Avikingman 6/29/2021 10:12:57 AM (No. 830241)
Yes.
We're required to do a lot of things to keep our liberty and freedoms. It's the least we can ask of our children. As Reagan said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."
Two years of no frills service for our country should be mandatory too, no exceptions, but I'm pipe dreaming.
9 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
red1066 6/29/2021 10:22:11 AM (No. 830252)
They're taught to hate the U.S. in school by so many Marxist teachers, it seems ridiculous to expect them to stand and recite a pledge to the same country that they are taught is so awful. Fifty years ago, there were kids who didn't recite the pledge, but did put there hands over their hearts. Besides, at eight in the morning, most kids just want to be either someplace else, or back in bed.
6 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
MDConservative 6/29/2021 10:23:18 AM (No. 830254)
Ah, yes, more values pushing by the public schools. It has proven so successful, even if the "values" pushed are not yours, right?
Love of country and patriotism begins at home, not in the classroom. Like religion or any belief, kids adopt what their parents present. Many today see the USA as a means to an end, making a good living. They do not see any duty associated with life in the USA. Many are migrants who have never cut ties to their native lands. They wave those flags instead. In my TEXAS neighborhood one can count the American flags flown on holidays on one hand...with fingers left over. Nationalism and patriotism are difficult to sell to mercenaries.
4 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
DVC 6/29/2021 11:30:14 AM (No. 830330)
Yes, we should.
4 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Jennie C. 6/29/2021 12:05:15 PM (No. 830388)
Required? NO! What #1 said. But when I was in elementary school, there was a girl whose religion proscribed reciting allegiance to anyone except God. Our teacher explained this to us. The girl stood with the rest of us, to be polite, but did not recite. Nobody gave her a hard time about it. That would never have occurred to us.
4 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
KTWO 6/29/2021 3:32:25 PM (No. 830600)
IIRC they have not been required to recite the Pledge for about 80 years. And this law doesn't require it either.
But soon someone will argue that even hearing others making the Pledge is frightening. Then the courts will ban it at public events.
The Judges might as well ban that oath witnesses take in Court too. I'm sure someone feels the oath violates a Human Right to tell lies.
0 people like this.
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RE the title question, unequivocally, yes!!