measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Only two more years of this religious fascist... I cannot wait until Bush is out of office. This breakdown of church and state has been obnoxious. Now there's required patriotism as well: From the Washington Post:
E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Subscribe to The Post The Associated Press Monday, September 9, 2002; 3:51 PM WASHINGTON �� President Bush and Education Secretary Rod Paige want school children across the nation to put their pencils down, put their hands over their hearts and join them next week in a national recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. The recitation is scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT on Sept. 17. Appearing Monday at the National Press Club, Paige announced the event, dubbed "Pledge Across America," saying he and Bush would participate, as they did in 2001. Bush and first lady Laura Bush last year participated from the White House during celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month. The voluntary exercise was started by Paula Burton, a retired teacher who has held it annually for the past decade, with only scattered participation until recently. Burton last year said that after the Sept. 11 attacks, she was swamped with calls from teachers and principals. She runs the nonprofit group Celebration U.S.A. from her home in Villa Park, Calif. The organization's purpose "is to teach children the basic principles of American democracy and to invigorate patriotism." The synchronized pledge will begin at 2 p.m. EDT, 1 p.m. CDT, noon MDT, 11 a.m. PDT, 10 a.m. in Alaska, and 8 a.m. in Hawaii. Bear in mind that it's not voluntary in many school districts in this country for children to recite the pledge. It is mandatory, either by school authority force or peer pressure force. Being different as a child in a school is asking to be an outcast, a reject, and the subject for torture, either emotional or physical. As adults, we forget how traumatizing this can be for kids. And most of the times, kids DON'T tell adults of the humiliation, because nothing's going to happen anyway, or the adults will go so far out of the way to "solve" the problem that they actually make it worse later on. Teachers, regardless of THEIR religious beliefs, must lead their students in the pledge. It's not "voluntary" by any means. Whomever thinks so is deluding him/herself. Forcing a child to recite the pledge is not invigorating patriotism. It's teaching how you must conform, or be classified as an outcast-- a complete reversal to what democracy is. And considering how, since this controversy broke, Christians have over-emphasized the words "under God" in the pledge when they say it-- it reinforces exactly why the words are so dangerous in their ability to divide, and why the words should be eliminated. If I had children, they'd conveniently be sick that day. --Mel. 9:43 a.m. - 10 September 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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