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To: wanna_bmw who wrote (167572)	7/8/2002 1:17:23 PM
From: K.Ramesh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Isn't "a kid being forced to say the pledge" different from "the kid being forced to adopt a different religious belief" ? We can argue endlessly as to whether forced reciting of the pledge by itself is constitutional or not, but where is the coercion to adhere to a specific religion ? As a Hindu parent I don't find anything offensive in the pledge and my 10-year old son has been reciting this ever since KG. I have all along seen the pledge as to what it is, i.e. owing allegiance to our country, the United States. I am amazed at the religious twist being given to it, by that one phrase, and somehow seen as forcing Christianity on everyone. I see the pledge only as an assertion of our firm belief that this a single nation with diverse ethnic and religious faiths, having equal rights and freedoms. Ramesh

To: wanna_bmw who wrote (167572)	7/8/2002 1:22:04 PM
From: Bill Jackson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

WBMW, Nope, you are wrong. The fundamentalists in all religion want to exert a coercive pressure on all people, but expecially the children. It is not easy for a kid ostracise him/her self and refuse to walk the walk. Next thing the other kids are persecuting them for daring to be their own self. Conform to the norm.I expect the same thing occurs in a muslim country....with far harsher results, if any kid dares not pray 5 times a day or otherwise depart from the norm, his parents will be visited and told he must conform or leave the school. At least we have this freedom here. Let us not have the fundamentalist crap force fed to our kids with the daily pledge. Why do we need that pledge at all? Do you go to work and say the pledge? bill