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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (52312)	7/5/2002 9:25:10 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 82486

I am made to affirm in words the existence of a being I do not "believe" in- I do not "know" if one exists or not. And the existence or non-existence of the being makes no difference anyway. Trees exist and people worship them- I do not wish to pledge "under trees" in a religious way either- even though I like trees very much. (NOR would I wish an agnostic message inserted into the pledge- NO religious message at all- not one I agree with, not one I disagree with) What is more I do not feel the words are inclusive enough for other people who believe in multiple beings (the polytheists) or people who believe in other types of religions. It is my opinion the at the words are an attempt to remind us every day in school that monotheism as the de facto majority religion. It is fine for the public freely to display its monotheism. It is fine for them to do it daily. But the school is not a pulpit. imo It is insulting and ridiculous to make it one, and it is especially ridiculous to try to say that the words are not religious when it is quite clear from the reaction that they are considered that. It is insulting to be made to pray in a government place, or to affirm religious words there, if you prefer to term it that way. It is insulting to exclude people. It is ridiculous, as mentioned above, because it is clear that this is a huge issue precisely because people see a great deal of God in those two words, and they want Him there, with the little children, even little children of other faiths, or of no faith. Because it is a big deal it is clear those words do have tremendous religious impact for the people who say them. People have been posting those words like a prayer all over SI. Of course many of them seem to think their liberty to say the pledge is in danger, which is not the case at all. But they are worried for their religion- because those words are part of it. No religious words should be part of a daily government exercise/pledge/affirmation put on in a government building, built at taxpayer expense, led by a government employee, where children are compelled to go regardless of their faith. IMO You probably have a different opinion.