Pledge Of Allegiance Persuasive Essay

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When the morning announcements come on and say, “Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance,” people normally don’t think anything of it, but to stand up and recite a few lines to something they learned in kindergarden. However, some people may feel it is wrong to say the Pledge based upon a religion that they practice. Requiring students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance does violate the First Amendment due to the fact that they are protected under the Freedom of Speech clause. This is seen through The Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow case, The West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette case, and The Massachusetts Supreme Court case. In the following cases, it is discussed whether or not it is fair to force students to stand up and recite the Pledge of Allegiance while in school. In the Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow case, Michael Newdow is suing for his daughter being required to say the Pledge of Allegiance while in school. The Newdow family is an Atheist family who disagrees with the phrase, ‘under God‘ stated in the Pledge of Allegiance. Newdow disapproved forcing his daughters say the Pledge in class. He also states that this is an Establishment Clause violation in which he does not want the school to be able to control his daughters religion or beliefs. When this case was brought to court it became a debate whether or not the ‘under God‘ statement had any religious meaning. One judge, Justice O’Connor says, “there is whether the phrase ‘under God‘ is either worship or prayer.” Also, O’Connor states that, “the term does not refer to specifically one religion.” When saying the Pledge of Allegiance, students are not doing it because of religious views but to pledge allegiance to their country. The ... ... middle of paper ... ...his issue. In a poll taken from NBCnews.com states that, 97% of the votes are in favor of removing the phrase ‘under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance. This would not be a good decision for the Pledge of Allegiance to be changed. Although forcing student’s to say the Pledge even if they don’t want to does violate the Constitution, changing the words does not solve the problem. People have been saying the Pledge of Allegiance this was since 1954 and removing the words ‘under God’ will have no positive effect. In conclusion, The Pledge of Allegiance does the violate the First Amendment in the Constitution. Forcing students to recite the Pledge in school goes against their Freedom of Speech. Also, the students of certain religions who feel it is not right to say the Pledge based on the words in it, have the Freedom of Religion and should not be forced into saying it.

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