DAR
Good for them. A pledge, if you are into reciting such things, should be inclusive and something that brings people together. The religious nuts had to take the pledge and pervert it with god talk. Now it divides people.
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Students walk out during Pledge in protest over saying 'one nation, under God'
The Associated Press
BOULDER, Colo. — About 50 Boulder High School students walked out of
class Thursday to protest the daily reading of the Pledge of Allegiance
and recited their own version, omitting "one nation, under God."
The students say the phrase violates the constitutional separation of
church and state.
They also say the daily reading of the pledge over the school public
address system at the start of the second class takes away from
education time and is ignored or mocked by some students.
A state law passed in 2004 requires schools to offer the opportunity to
recite the pledge each day but does not require students to participate.
The protesting students, members of the Student Worker Club, want
administrators to hold the pledge reading in the auditorium during each
of the school's two lunch periods for any students who want to participate.
Otherwise, they said, they plan to walk out each Thursday when the
pledge is read and recite their version, which omits the reference to
God and adds allegiance to constitutional rights, diversity and freedom,
among other things.
"Boulder High has a highly diverse population, not all of whom believe
in God, or one God," said Emma Martens, a senior and president of the
club, which has about a dozen members.
"We didn't think it was fair for the whole school to have to listen to
it. It's almost religious oppression," she said.
Principal Bud Jenkins told the Camera newspaper on its Web site Thursday
the pledge will not be moved, but added he was proud of the students for
standing up for their beliefs.
It was not immediately clear what discipline, if any, the protesting
students would face.