I am a high school senior. As a high school senior, I will be graduating this Friday. Our high school recites the Pledge of Allegiance almost everyday in school and at all school events. And when I say all, I mean all. Now this is fine. I'm sure nearly every other high school does the exact same thing. This is not a problem for me. What is a problem is that despite the ruling in Newdow Vs. United States Congress in the Ninth Court of Appeals which ruled that it is unconstitutional to have the person leading the Pledge of Allegiance to say "under god". The funny thing was, even though this ruling happened in 2002, I had just found out about it this year. Why? Because not one day in school has the person leading the Pledge of Allegiance NOT said "under god". You can probably understand why this is frustrating to have my school constantly defy the ruling. And now, during graduation, they will recite the pledge again with "under god" included. My graduating class has about 600 students which means A LOT of people will be there.
Let me go on a little side note here. I decided I was an atheist in my freshman year of high school. At first I got angry at how much religion was ingrained in places that it didn't belong. After a couple years, I started to realize that I wasn't always thinking of other's rights and only about mine. I decided that if I wanted the Constitution to be upheld to protect my right FROM religion, I would have to respect other people's rights even if I didn't agree with them. This constantly made me think "Is this against somebody else's rights?" every time before I made a statement on an issue in conversation. This has made me a much more mature person! But it has also made me neutral on many issues because I can see enough pros for each side. I will say this now. I will not be neutral on this issue!
I got an idea. Usually during the Pledge of Allegiance, I only stand and don't say anything. This isn't because I am against allegiance to America or anything of the sort. I refuse to recite a pledge to my nation that defies the idea of the nation in itself! I decided that I was tired of this.
During the day of graduation, when I recite the Pledge of Allegiance, I will practically scream, "ONE NATION INDIVISIBLE..." and continue. When I thought of this, I went back into neutral mode and thought "well isn't it the rights of those who want to say 'under god' to do so?" Yes. Yes it is. You can say it all you want. I don't care. I will be saying this as loud as I want. Others might say "well aren't you just going to make the Christians mad? Won't they want to get 'under god' back into the pledge legally? Won't this make you lose?" As I see it, atheists have already lost. The ruling is not being upheld, it is not being enforced, and it is being covered up. The Christians are already winning. I hope to make them angry. I want this to be talked about. I want this to get attention. I'm not hoping for any thing big, but I don't need to worry about angry threats from people anymore. I'm out of this school. But I do want to leave a lasting impression that might make people think. I ask you to join me with this ritual. Please. Even if you believe in God, this is America. We uphold our rulings. If you believe in America, I hope this means you also believe in the Supreme and District courts. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but this always makes me think of the idea that "if we lose one thing, we lose everything else." If we lose this ruling and it isn't upheld, what is to say any other rulings in favor of a secular government and public school system will be upheld? Maybe prayer will get back into schools. Maybe atheists will become discriminated against in jobs, school, and life in general.
I believe this is a step forward in civil rights and atheism. If you believe so too, please send me a message. If you disagree, I would be more than glad to speak politely and rationally with you.
-nwndarkness
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