Atlanta Charter School drops Pledge of Allegiance from schedule

[Dr. MB]

I don't care if schools do it, as long as they don't force you.

[Senator Sirius]

If you don't want to say the pledge, kindly pack your backs and gtfo.  Canada will love to take you in.

This kind of "muh America" is exactly what America isn't about. Freedom of thought is one of our founding principles and our nation was never made with the intention of us pledging support to the government no matter what they do. Perhaps you should be the one packing and leaving the democratic world.

[Mopsus]

If you don't want to say the pledge, kindly pack your backs and gtfo.  Canada will love to take you in.

This kind of "muh America" is exactly what America isn't about. Freedom of thought is one of our founding principles and our nation was never made with the intention of us pledging support to the government no matter what they do. Perhaps you should be the one packing and leaving the democratic world.

America was never meant to be a part of the democratic world.

[here2view]

I don't care if schools do it, as long as they don't force you.

Most don't force you to, at least the ones I've been in (I'm a teacher.) Then again, it'd probably be different in states outside of the Northeast.

It's kind of weird that we do it in school, but I don't really care. I taught at a private Catholic school last year and we had a prayer announcement (kinda like the Pledge of Allegiance) every Wednesday. I just didn't say the prayer - I was confirmed as Catholic but I'm not overly religious. No one cared or said anything.

[Jumped off the American Sinking Ship]

Freedom decision. The pledge seems Hitler-like and anti-American imo. I already refuse to say it anyway.

[courts]

ok but charter schools shouldn't be a thing

[Sic Semper Tyrannis]

The pledge is creepy and should be banned.

[emailking]

I went to private school and was forced to say it. I think it would be good for it to be eliminated or entirely optional. Although my primary objection is the under god phrase, which I think was a bad addition that should be removed anyway.

[#gravelgang #lessiglad]

Standing in front of the flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is creepy. Fortunately, it's a practice that is dying out.

100% this. The sooner this type of blind recitation of the pledge dies out, the better. Schools should teach our kids to aspire to the ideals contained in the pledge as originally written instead of mindlessly repeating a chant.

I'm glad I stopped saying the pledge after the PATRIOT Act.

[tallguy23]

We only stood for assemblies or special events. And most people just murmured it.

This is a non-issue. Stand if you want or just sit. This is America, not North Korea.

[Progressive Pessimist]

ok but charter schools shouldn't be a thing

This too.

[Take your vitamins and say your prayers, Brother!]

Is there a correlation between (A) those who believe in the practice of reciting the Pledge and (B) those who believe America is, at its heart, a fundamentally GOOD nation?

Is there a correlation between (C) Those who want to eliminate the practice of reciting the Pledge and (D) those who view America is, at its heart, a fundamentally BAD nation?

That's a question that begs an answer.

[MAINEiac4434]

wtf i love charter schools now

[DavidB.]

Is there a correlation between (A) those who believe in the practice of reciting the Pledge and (B) those who believe America is, at its heart, a fundamentally GOOD nation?

Is there a correlation between (C) Those who want to eliminate the practice of reciting the Pledge and (D) those who view America is, at its heart, a fundamentally BAD nation?

That's a question that begs an answer.

I think the answer is clear.

I'm not an American, but if I were, I'd oppose this move. Just stand up for the pledge and recite it. It's not that difficult. And your "opinion" as a child doesn't always matter.

[Alabama_Indy10]

ok but charter schools shouldn't be a thing

This too.

[KingSweden]

ok but charter schools shouldn't be a thing

This too.

I am surprised you held this position

[Alabama_Indy10]

ok but charter schools shouldn't be a thing

This too.

I am surprised you held this position

I’m very anti private school and charter school.

[Famous Mortimer]

As the nation becomes more diverse, ie as people have less and less in common ethnically, culturally, and politically, unity building exercises like the pledge become even more important. It's disappointing but not surprising to see so many on the left (and even the "right") oppose such things. They oppose nationalism in any form, even race blind civic nationalism based on shared ideas. They want no nationalism, no nation, no communities except communities built around racial resentment. Of course I can see the responses coming in now "lol it's just the pledge don't be so dramatic" but it's just the pledge now, it will be the founding fathers tomorrow, the flag the next day. How in the world will this country be governed in the future if there are no shared values except "we need to let in more immigrants who want more money"? This is another step towards the collapse of the whole country, maybe the left will like what comes after, maybe they won't. They think it's worth the risk apparently.

[Ye We Can]

As the nation becomes more diverse, ie as people have less and less in common ethnically, culturally, and politically, unity building exercises like the pledge become even more important. It's disappointing but not surprising to see so many on the left (and even the "right") oppose such things. They oppose nationalism in any form, even race blind civic nationalism based on shared ideas. They want no nationalism, no nation, no communities except communities built around racial resentment. Of course I can see the responses coming in now "lol it's just the pledge don't be so dramatic" but it's just the pledge now, it will be the founding fathers tomorrow, the flag the next day. How in the world will this country be governed in the future if there are no shared values except "we need to let in more immigrants who want more money"? This is another step towards the collapse of the whole country, maybe the left will like what comes after, maybe they won't. They think it's worth the risk apparently.

Muh slippery slope

[Beet]

Right. Civic nationalism is one of the few things that still keeps us together in this increasingly divided time. In the context of the current political environment the pledge is worthwhile.

[KingSweden]

ok but charter schools shouldn't be a thing

This too.

I am surprised you held this position

I’m very anti private school and charter school.

I’m fine with private schools existing but I’d never send my (hypothetical) kids to one, and I sure as hell don’t want my tax dollars paying for private school vouchers. Charters I’m more ambivalent about

[Intell]

I recited the pledge of allegiance and the Lord's prayer in school daily, did the latter even though I wasn't a Catholic. There is nothing wrong with having people recite the pledge, especially without the "under God" part.

[Yellowhammer]

ok but charter schools shouldn't be a thing

This too.

I am surprised you held this position

I’m very anti private school and charter school.

Why? 

[Take your vitamins and say your prayers, Brother!]

As the nation becomes more diverse, ie as people have less and less in common ethnically, culturally, and politically, unity building exercises like the pledge become even more important. It's disappointing but not surprising to see so many on the left (and even the "right") oppose such things. They oppose nationalism in any form, even race blind civic nationalism based on shared ideas. They want no nationalism, no nation, no communities except communities built around racial resentment. Of course I can see the responses coming in now "lol it's just the pledge don't be so dramatic" but it's just the pledge now, it will be the founding fathers tomorrow, the flag the next day. How in the world will this country be governed in the future if there are no shared values except "we need to let in more immigrants who want more money"? This is another step towards the collapse of the whole country, maybe the left will like what comes after, maybe they won't. They think it's worth the risk apparently.

The Pledge is to "the Republic for which (the flag) stands.  When you think about it, what does it say when citizens deeply resent the idea of professing loyalty to the United States of America 

My wife might wonder about me if I thought it "creepy" to say "I love you!".  I don't know that she'd take it well if I reminded her that I told her I loved her when I married her, and why should I have to  say this every day.

Telling my wife I love her every day lets her know that I love her and reminds me that I do, indeed love her.  Saying the pledge is (or ought to be) a reminder of our loyalty to the Republic.  I'm hardly perfect, but should my wife not be loyal to me, and vice versa?  Why, really, should feeling toward one's nation be so radically different.

Without a solid core of the kind of patriotic loyalty that the Pledge talks about, where will be the sense of common weal to do what is needed for the greater good of the Republic, especially when sectional, tribal, racial, or gender loyalties conflict with national well-being?  What, absent the Pledge, will build up that sentiment?  Or do people really think that our Republic can survive a populace where the bulk of Americans do not share even the "race blind civic nationalism based on shared ideas"? 

My concern for America is that there will not be an adequate supply of such civic nationalism to bind our country together.  And then what?  If the answer is "My side wins!", then you are not, as of now, a person that possesses even a smidgen of loyalty to the Republic whose politics you participate in. 

[CookieDamage]

Good. We had to in my high school. We had a teacher who'd shame kids into doing it.