School Board Still Grappling with 'Pledge' Issue
A school board in western Minnesota is still torn as to whether its students should be forced to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, reports the AP.
Officials at Glyndon's Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton school—located just east of Moorhead—suspended three eighth graders earlier this month for refusing to pledge their commitment to a red, white, and blue pennant.
The pennant in question is known colloquially as “the American Flag,” which features 13 horizontal red and white stripes, with a star-spangled blue blotch in the upper corner. The Flag is intended to evoke emotions of cohesiveness and pride-in-geographic-proximity, and is often displayed publicly to ward off the twin demons of Independent Judgment and Rational Thought. Sometimes referred to as “Old Glory” or “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the Flag is believed to magically transmit strength and support to American battalions and U.S.-commissioned mercenary armies currently fighting in killing fields across the globe, especially when coupled with a yellow ribbon.
The Pledge itself is usually delivered in a perfunctory monotone by disinterested schoolchildren. The Pledge’s aim is to foster obedience to both the Flag and the nation-state symbolized therein.
At a meeting Tuesday, the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton school board voted 3-3 on the measure. The gridlock is expected to be broken at the next meeting, June 19, when all seven members will be present. The ACLU says it will consider a lawsuit should the requirement make its way into the student handbook.
Below is a verbatim transcription of the quasi-prayer students would be obliged to recite each morning:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
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