July 2, 2002
Pledge is fine, if you need it
As a schoolchild, I have for many years wondered if the "under God" part of the Pledge of Allegiance was necessary or even appropriate.
I have decided: It is.
The pledge is voluntary. You don't have to say it. If that particular line offends you, don't say it.
I have never liked that line and now feel it is my right not to say it, and I don't plan to.
However, it is OK for others to say it. If they wish to pray, that's fine, too. It doesn't matter who they pray to, or what prayer they do.
If schoolchildren aren't allowed to voluntarily endorse the idea of a supreme being in school, isn't that tantamount to our government saying that one doesn't exist?
And that is a definite violation of my rights.
(Kara Brown of Mesa, who wrote the above, is 15 years old.)