Why was the Pledge of Allegiance taken out of school and who knows where else?

Thats how it should be.  No one has ever said you can't pray.  Whats said is that its not ok to do it publicly.  Would you like some wiccan/pegan chanting their prayers or whatever (no offence to wiccans Im just not up on the practices) Its distracting and makes others uncomfortable.  Forget for a moment that your religion is the one true religion and put yourself in someone elses shoes.  If kids or their teachers want to prey thay can. To themselves.  Peoples relationship with their god(s) should be personal and not flaunted to other people.  Pray to yourself.  To say you need to do anything otherwise is just someones way of pushing their views down other peoples throats. Or making yourself feel superior because you want to show the world what you believe.  If your God requires you to yell it from the mountain tops then maybe your god has a complex.

FWIW, my kids say the Pledge of Allegiance at school every morning--it's an honor for one chosen to student to come read it over the speaker for the entire school.  They also have a school pledge "I will be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing...." that they say following the regular pledge every single day.

My daughter's nor teachers are even able to mention God not to mention pray. And not just as a group, I condone my children to pray on their own

Not sure how this went to prayer in school but it comes down to the same thing.  Group prayer has no business in a public school.  The same people that go on about this would have a holy fit if all relgions were given th eopertunity to hold their own group prayer..  Do we really need a group of jewish kids, christian kids, muslim kids, wiccans, etc.. all with their own little prayer group.

Favored28... Ive read your posts about the one true god and savior Jesus Christ.  How offended would you be if your child was forced to learn about Budda, Mohammed, or any number of pegan gods because others believe those are the true ways to enlighenment?

No one has the ability to keep anyone from praying.  No matter where they are... But why do you need it to be group prayer.  Does your god only listen to prayers en mass?

More than any other group Christians in this county like to force their views down other peoples throats.  If your god is the one true god be happy in it and follow your heart.  Theres no reason to make everyone else follow your beliefs. But that is exactly what they wish to do. But look out if any other religion in this country tries the same thing.

When I looked this up, I found that the hand over heart thing was adapted at a later date.  Orginally there was some kind of salute, that when the fascists came to power, looked entirely too similar to theirs.  So we switched to hand over heart.  We also added in the "under God" bit, because the fear was our pledge sounded too much like those "godless communists".  Basically from my search, I've found the pledge to be a marketing creation, modified by political association and the fervor of the cold war.

Which leads me to wonder, why are we taking this so seriously.  I can see how a soldier might take it seriously, but a kid in school is just going with the flow of the day.  My daughter just started Kindergarten and I asked her if she said the pledge.  She says, I think so.  So I recite the pledge, hand over heart, and she says oh yeah we do that.  I say, do you know what it means, she says not really.  I don't plan on discussing the atrocities of other regimes, the sacrifices of a soldier, or our governmental system with my 5 year old.  But she's a good girl, so she'll just go with the flow for now.  When I was little I was sure we were saying something about being invisible- I'll have to ask her what she thinks she's saying!

But as for the pledge or even the anthem, they do not define one's patriotism.  They are traditions, not without their warm & fuzzy merits, but I am much more impressed by a person's ability to stand up for our country's principles, than to stand up for a song at a game or a morning ritual at school.  I have to tell you in my much more defiant teen years, I stopped standing for the pledge fairly early on.  It seemed stupid to me that we were all mimicing this thing that we were told to do without any of us giving a hoot about it.  So I sat there, caught a few more zzzzs, and nobody batted an eyelash.  I wouldn't do that now, because I do respect that it means something to some people, but it is certainly NOT the mark of you patriotism.

 At least in Canada, there can't be any organized prayers by teachers.  It's why the Lord's Prayer was taken out of schools in the morning, you can't force somebody to.  If the Jewish, Muslim, etc, students are forced to sit down or leave the room, it's alienating them and placing one set of beliefs above others.

I honestly have no idea why people have to say the same pledge everyday.  Seriously?  Your pledge runs out that fast? *rolls eyes* You would think that it would be honoured for years.  That, plus the hand-on-heart, seems a bit over-the-top to me.

Why can't you pray in school?  When I was in school, high school and college, I prayed all the time and there wasn't formal prayer.  I still do.  There isn't a need to make a big production out of praying, is there?

When I was teaching, I prayed constantly for every child in my class.

It seems that a few keep bringing this back to a problem with religion.  We live in a country where we have freedom of religion.  Out of curiosity, would you prefer that we were all forced to be Christian?  I guess I just don't understand.

Please say it again. You have a good point. I want to know are we really so free?

I know it's like you have to walk on egg shells these days and that is not how I am going to live my life. Which is in fear

We can't pray in school here neither can any teachers only private.

we still say it in my school

I'm not exactly sure where you're going with this topic, but I'll try to respond.

First, yes, I'm positive there are people, vet or not, who would be offended by someone disrespecting the flag.  However, and we've had this discussion so I know, my husband and the soldiers I know would be far more offended by the loss of the freedom to do so. 

I'm not quite sure what the pledge, prayer and the names of holiday parties have to do with a lack of morals.  It shouldn't be the schools job to teach morals to kids.  There is a far bigger problem and it's centered around parents who are unwilling or unable to teach their children these things.  My opinion is that our focus should be there, not on putting someone's idea of a bandaid on the situation.

No one has ever said that a child cannot pray in school.  It's just not a group thing.  If you want your child to do that, then they should do it because you told them to or because they wanted to.  I grew up in a public school and a Christian.  I prayed, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone, before every meal, before school started and any other time I felt like it.  I transferred to a Christian high school and sat while the teacher prayed before class ... sat there respectfully, but I didn't need someone else to pray for me, I did it on my own.

You're right that schools can be scary and it's a tragedy that things like what you mentioned are happening.  But, do we have these freedoms, or don't we?

As for the pledge, you're sort of making my point.  I don't think it should be a ritual or a custom.  You are pledging your allegiance to the flag and to the USA.  I have talked to MANY teens who don't understand why their dads and moms are in Iraq or Afghanistan.  If they don't understand that, how can they pledge their allegiance?  Because, that is what you're doing.  Don't agree with the war?  Doesn't matter because you've taken an oath to say that you will support where this country goes and what it does.  That you will defend it and honor it.  That you will be indivisible with your fellow citizens.  Honestly, I think for the most part these things are true for most people, but shouldn't this pledge be something that means more than just warm and proud feelings?

 Yes, I do find it disrespectful when people don't pull over ... granted, I never have, but if I did, I'm sure I would shake my head sadly at those people.

However, I'm still not sure how it relates to the Pledge.  Please, don't get me wrong.  I stand up, recite it proudly with my hand firmly over my heart.  If I'm driving around at 5pm during the week, I proudly stop my car, get out and stand respectfully as the bugle sounds here on post.  I am proud of my country, my husband, his soldiers and every other soldier that is out there standing up for my freedoms.  But, FREEDOM is what it is. 

What makes our country so great is that we are free.  Free to make our own choices, free to criticize our government, free to choose our own religion, free to go to work wherever we choose, free to go to school, free to raise our kids how we see fit, free.

My husband is not getting shot at every day so that we are just like the country he is in.  He's not protecting the people who are afraid because they said they aren't happy with their government, just so that we can become those same people who are afraid to vote or afraid to say we don't like something. 

I'm sorry you think our country is going to "hell in a handbasket".  Some are already there and those are the countries where you get shot at for not standing up to do whatever it is the government tells you.  So, while I would love every US citizen to understand the words in the Pledge of Allegiance and to stand up proudly to recite it, I would much prefer someone to refrain from saying it and be ALLOWED to do that, than be forced to.

At the school I teach at, the Pledge has not been abolished, and it is recited in the gym for all students in the morning before they go to class.  It is also on the kindergarten's assessment that they can recite it and know what it stands for.  It is just respectful to honor the flag.  I mean, don't you find it rude when someone doesn't pull over for a funeral procession?  I find it rude to not stand with your hand over your heart when the pledge is being said or the national anthem is being played.  Our country is already headed to hell in a hand basket, and the last thing we need is more disrespectful people sucking up all the clean oxygen we have left. 

Figure of speech.

Point is discussing everything with children including the Pledge

 Huh?!  What on earth does getting pregnant have to do with the Pledge of Allegiance?  Where did anyone say they weren't being honest with their kids?

i know whats being said at my kids school or even if the school is doing something new they would send the memo home so the parents can talk to the children and then make a decision.

We should be honest with our children any way especially if girls are becoming pregnant as young as 10 then children are learning things a lot younger than we think. 

And kids are smart I even learn from my own children on certain things so the best place to learn is home.

You know what's really funny?  In reading up on it I found that the pledge was commissioned by a marketer for a magazine who was trying to sell flags to schools.  Making the whole thing much more American than I thought!