People are getting pretty hysterical on this issue. LH, Banjer, et al., nobody is trying to OUTLAW the pledge of allegiance (whatever that means), or prevent you from saying any damn thing you want to. Pledge allegiance to Corn Flakes every morning for all liberals and atheists care! People just don't think it's right to pressure kids into saying it as part of their public, tax-funded education, or to include it in official government events. I think it's so obvious that such usages violate the bill of rights that I wonder what there is to argue about. The court's ruling was obviously correct.

I went to private school and never had to say it, so I have essentially no feelings about it that are personal. But why, if a child is an atheist, or for that matter a polytheist, should he have to swear that his country in "under God" every morning? Or as an alternative, mark himself as a religious minority and a potential "non-patriot," and open the door to ostracism and persecution? Why link the issues of patriotism and God into one ritual? Is this not precisely what the separation of Church and State is supposed to protect us from?