Okay, I've been gone for a couple of days, so I'm going to go back to the original questions, along with commenting on a few things I saw on my way through.
As has been stated, the Pledge was originally written with no reference to God at all; in fact, several sources I have read, including this one, reference the the granddaughter of the author, Francis Bellamy, saying that her grandfather would have been quite upset at the addition made to the Pledge that he wrote.
As far as why this is an issue - I don't believe in the God referenced in the Pledge; I'm Jewish - and my personal religious beliefs are a lot closer to the Christian God referenced than quite a few students I know.
When I was a child in school and objected to that part of the Pledge, I was told that I could mouth those words, but I would say the Pledge, like it or not. As a teacher, I require my students to stand and be respectfully quiet, but I do not require them to recite the Pledge if they are not so inclined.
Children are allowed to pray - public schools are not allowed to require prayer. I've seen many copies of a bumper sticker reading, more or less "As long as there are final exams, there will be prayers in schools" and that's quite true - the prayers may be more or less religious - but they are definitely happening!
I believe we should... but not strongly enough to do anything about it. It doesn't offend me personally, but I can see why it would offend others.
The separation of Church and State was intended to prevent the establishment of a state religion; the writers of the Constitution were, as previously discussed, were, as a group, very religious - if I recall correctly, 17 were ministers - because they came from England, fleeing religious persecution, where the practice of their personal religion(s) was illegal because the Church of England was the religion of the country.
This separation was not originally intended to provide the protections that churches now enjoy; it was intended to prevent the types of persecution a state religion caused. However, that is a different issue from allowing the government the right to exercise the power of eminent domain, which is the power it uses when seizing land to build other things... a power I have a problem with in the way it has been used in some instances - but that's a discussion for a different thread.
As I said above, prayer cannot be mandated - but it is certainly allowed.
As has been stated, the Pledge was originally written with no reference to God at all; in fact, several sources I have read, including this one, reference the the granddaughter of the author, Francis Bellamy, saying that her grandfather would have been quite upset at the addition made to the Pledge that he wrote.
As far as why this is an issue - I don't believe in the God referenced in the Pledge; I'm Jewish - and my personal religious beliefs are a lot closer to the Christian God referenced than quite a few students I know.
When I was a child in school and objected to that part of the Pledge, I was told that I could mouth those words, but I would say the Pledge, like it or not. As a teacher, I require my students to stand and be respectfully quiet, but I do not require them to recite the Pledge if they are not so inclined.
Children are allowed to pray - public schools are not allowed to require prayer. I've seen many copies of a bumper sticker reading, more or less "As long as there are final exams, there will be prayers in schools" and that's quite true - the prayers may be more or less religious - but they are definitely happening!
I believe we should... but not strongly enough to do anything about it. It doesn't offend me personally, but I can see why it would offend others.
The separation of Church and State was intended to prevent the establishment of a state religion; the writers of the Constitution were, as previously discussed, were, as a group, very religious - if I recall correctly, 17 were ministers - because they came from England, fleeing religious persecution, where the practice of their personal religion(s) was illegal because the Church of England was the religion of the country.
This separation was not originally intended to provide the protections that churches now enjoy; it was intended to prevent the types of persecution a state religion caused. However, that is a different issue from allowing the government the right to exercise the power of eminent domain, which is the power it uses when seizing land to build other things... a power I have a problem with in the way it has been used in some instances - but that's a discussion for a different thread.
I thought there was. I though the Supreme Court ruled that prayers were to be taken out of public schools. Am I wrong or have I miss read something? Please someone set me straight
As I said above, prayer cannot be mandated - but it is certainly allowed.
