OK.
In contemporary politics, the Pledge of Allegiance is a controversial issue. Some contend that students are under no obligation to utter the phrase "under god," due to the provision in the Constitution establishing the freedom of religion. The compromise has long been that students are at liberty to remain silent during the utterance of "under god." However, I believe this underscores a larger point: the Pledge of Allegiance itself is an undue compulsion of speech and thought.
This opinion isn't exclusive to Atlas. As early back as 1938, Judge Marris wrote:
citationI don't know that it would be enough to merely make it voluntary to participate in the Pledge. Considering how ingrained it is in our culture, not standing up for the Pledge of Allegiance is tantamount to a
thoughtcrime, and can lead to
ostracism.As for the school prayer thing, I may be wrong but I seem to recall real life provisions of school prayer being conditional of silence. Nothing in this bill would stop people from praying to themselves, and people may still do so during designated times of the day.