Well way back in the dim and distant past I DID rail against that as a matter of fact.

The reason we home in on Catholicism or Christianity is because that happens to be the background of most people here. I can read about Islam, for example, but I haven't had that lifelong learn-as-you-go immersion in it that would enable me to comment on it as fruitfully as I can on the faith that was foisted on me from birth. I'm guessing that that applies to most people here. I'm not scared of talking about Islam, but I wonder how many people here would feel comfortable as rank outsiders in extensively criticising its practices on this forum. I doubt that the mods would love us for doing that either. We talk more about Christianity because, to some degree, most of us are insiders.

Incidentally, one of the absurdities of religion is the routine enforced chanting of prayers. At school we did the morning offering, grace before meals and one or two others that escape me now. At my secondary school one Salesian brother even had us doing the Angelus if we happened to be in his lesson at noon. I can say with considerable confidence that absolutely none of it ever stuck with any of us. It was no more than inane jumping through hoops. I see the US pledge in the same way. These things shouldn't happen but they're hardly going to deprave or corrupt their victims. Religion, so adept at loading guilt on to people and making escape difficult, has far more insidious ways of exerting control.