Should the Pledge of Allegiance be Abolished?
Some people feel that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance should not be practiced in schools, even though it has been part of our American patriotism since 1942 (which is the year that Congress adopted the Pledge of Allegiance). These concerned citizens feel that the words, “under god,” make reciting the pledge a religious exercise, not a patriotic one, and thus violates our first and fourteenth amendment rights.
I feel that the Pledge of Allegiance should remain a feature of our public schools as it does not violate our our constitutional rights. One aspect most people are ignorant of is that in the 1943 Supreme Court decision West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court decided that the forced recital of the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, and today, in public schools, students may choose to not recite the Pledge. As the recital is voluntary in the modern day, lower courts have stated that the act of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is a patriotic act, and not a religious one, affirming the legality of the practice.
The government is not forcing a religious action upon us (which certainly would be illegal), but rather any action we take (religious or not) is by our own free will. As the recital of the Pledge is legal and a part of our American heritage, I see no reason to ban the Pledge of Allegiance from schools.