I am not so sure that reciting the pledge will increase student appreciation for
the American system. But I am sure that good, honest discussions of both the
good and bad moments of the American story can foster student interest in the
American experience. For that we need intelligent and trained history teachers
and smaller class sizes, educational elements the legislature has been reluctant
to support.
This ironically symbolic effort on the part of Utah politicians is bound fail
and be stayed and overturned in the Federal Courts once again with more precious
state taxpayer dollars wasted on an inevitable lawsuit that has already been to
the U.S. Supreme and has since become standard case law as established in the
Court's decision in Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943).
Let's get this in before this discussion goes very far. The phrase "under
god" was not in the original pledge of allegiance and was not added until
the 1950's. The original pledge of allegiance was:
"I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for
which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Even a good idea can be seen as a bad one. While I agree with the pledge being
important, requiring it by law removes freedom that is promised by the
Government. Ironically, this bill probably is unconstitutional.
A state legislator trying to fool us into thinking he is an honest, upstanding,
patriotic American by forcing people to say a couple of sentences every morning
is no different than wearing a flag lapel pin.
What really counts is
not words or symbols. It's honesty.
Wouldn't proposing a strict set
of ethical standards for public servants be a better idea?
Ah... Utah, the land of automatons.
I am not so sure that reciting the pledge will increase student appreciation for the American system. But I am sure that good, honest discussions of both the good and bad moments of the American story can foster student interest in the American experience. For that we need intelligent and trained history teachers and smaller class sizes, educational elements the legislature has been reluctant to support.
This ironically symbolic effort on the part of Utah politicians is bound fail and be stayed and overturned in the Federal Courts once again with more precious state taxpayer dollars wasted on an inevitable lawsuit that has already been to the U.S. Supreme and has since become standard case law as established in the Court's decision in Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943).
Let's get this in before this discussion goes very far. The phrase "under god" was not in the original pledge of allegiance and was not added until the 1950's. The original pledge of allegiance was:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Even a good idea can be seen as a bad one. While I agree with the pledge being important, requiring it by law removes freedom that is promised by the Government. Ironically, this bill probably is unconstitutional.
A state legislator trying to fool us into thinking he is an honest, upstanding, patriotic American by forcing people to say a couple of sentences every morning is no different than wearing a flag lapel pin.
What really counts is not words or symbols. It's honesty.
Wouldn't proposing a strict set of ethical standards for public servants be a better idea?
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