Acton, Mass. Family Wants "Under God" Cut from the Pledge of Allegiance

[Ian David]

Acton Family Wants "Under God" Cut from the Pledge of Allegiance

Doe vs. the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District: Where do you stand when it comes to your children reciting "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance?

An atheist Acton family that has chosen to remain anonymous is suing the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, declaring that saying “one nation under God” during the Pledge of Allegiance discriminates against their children.

State law dictates that schools deliver the pledge every day, but does not force students to recite it. Despite this, the local family says the phrase “under God” should be taken out of the pledge.

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Jane Haggerty heard both sides of the argument in court Feb. 13, and will decide the issue in the coming months. According to David Niose, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, named as Jane and John Doe to protect their children's identities, the religious content in the daily pledge is discriminatory.

“If the Pledge of Allegiance said that we are one nation under Jesus you wouldn’t have any trouble understanding why Muslims, Hindus and Jews would feel that pledge discriminates against them,” said Niose. “It is really the same thing here. There has been a line drawn that includes those who believe the nation is one nation under God and if you’re not in that circle you’re excluded.”

More:
http://acton.patch.com/articles/atheist-acton-family-wants-under-god-cut-from-the-pledge-of-allegiance

Be sure to answer the poll at the end of the article!

[Starboard Tack]

1. I find the whole reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance offensive

and the "underdog" part particularly offensive. Especially offensive to humans.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. I agree totally...

the whole thing should go. Too nationalistic for my tastes. Should we still pledge an allegiance to our country when it commits atrocities?

[MarkCharles]

2. Good for them for challenging this.

I know some people who live in that town.

They are NOT this family, for sure.

Right now, the atheist's position is ahead slightly in the poll.

I read the responses. Some interesting ones.

Then there's the guy that proclaims atheism is a religion.

I think you might want to respond to him with the "not collecting stamps is a hobby" or something like that.

[Ian David]

3. Or "Off" is a TV channel. n/t

[MarkCharles]

4. Yeah, that's my favorite!!! Did you...

post it?

I really don't want to bother to register there and give another place my email address.

[Ian David]

6. No, I didn't. For the same reasons you cited. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

15. I keep a yahoo mail account...

just for that purpose. I occasionally visit it just to empty out the spam.

[dmallind]

5. Good luck with that. In both senses of the phrase. nt

[MarkCharles]

7. Keeping up with the comments

Now the Christo-fascists are accusing the atheist family of being "bullies", wasting public resources on frivolous lawsuits, and "shoving their beliefs down everyone's throats".

A poster by the name of John Davis there seems to have stated my opinions on the matter.

[Lost-in-FL]

8. I find the whole spectacle of reciting the pledge before starting the day to be a waste of time.

Not just dump 'under gawd', dump the whole thing.

At least when it comes to school.

[kdmorris]

9. Really the whole "pledge allegience" is stupid

And adding under god part is even more offensive. If you brainwash children, they will say anything... but the don't even know what they are saying at 5, 6 years old. If you pledge allegiance to a flag, then... how do you break that allegiance?

[ShadowLiberal]

12. Agreed, the pledge is stupid, not just ours but everyone's, and many have a dark history

Lots of countries have their own form of pledge of allegiance. Pledges are really just for promoting feelings of patriotism (and loyalty to country at times), nothing more.

Most people don't know about the dark side of those pledges either, such as how some evil dictators have used them to help brainwash their people. Germany used to pledge to Hitler during his reign, as if he were a god or something. A lot of dictators use extreme patriotism to keep their masses in lines, the pledge in those countries is met to reinforce the feelings of how great and superior their country is.

But of course most people, especially politicians, wouldn't dare to question the pledge in their country, for fear of looking unpatriotic.

[Mumble]

10. Same old stupidity

Get rid of the Pledge already. I though that Gawd died 30 years ago.

[MarkCharles]

11. A little Wiki info about Acton, Mass....

Acton is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States about twenty-one miles west-northwest of Boston along Route 2 west of Concord and about ten miles (18 km) southwest of Lowell. The population was 21,924 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Westford and Littleton to the north, Concord and Carlisle to the east, Stow and Maynard to the south, and Boxborough to the west. Acton became an incorporated town in 1735. The town employs the Open Town Meeting form of government with a Town Manager and an elected, 5-member Board of Selectmen. Acton was named the 16th Best Place To Live among small towns in the country by Money Magazine in 2009 and in 2011.[1] The local high school, Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, was named a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acton,_Massachusetts

Concord was the first colonial town that was settled in this area. Concord residents used the land which is now Acton as grazing fields for their animals. The first colonial residents moved to Acton in 1639.

Acton was established as an independent town on July 3, 1735. Acton has held annual town meetings since 1735, the records of which are held at Acton's Memorial Library.[15]

Acton residents participated in the growing hostility with Great Britain by sending a list of grievances to King George III on Oct. 3rd, 1774. The anniversary of this day is celebrated in Acton as Crown Resistance Day.[16]

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, on April 19, 1775, a company of minutemen from Acton responded to the call to arms initiated by Paul Revere (who rode with other riders, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, with Prescott the only one of the three who was able reach Acton itself) and fought at the North Bridge in Concord as part of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The Acton minutemen were led by Captain Isaac Davis. When a company was needed to lead the advance on the bridge which was defended by the British regulars, Captain Davis was heard to reply, "I haven't a man who is afraid to go." The Acton men led because, unlike other militias there, they were fully equipped with bayonets.

The colonists advanced on the bridge; in the exchange of musket fire that followed, Captain Isaac Davis and Private Abner Hosmer of Acton were killed. Davis was the first officer to die in the American Revolutionary War. In Acton they refer to "the battle of Lexington, fought in Concord, by men of Acton."

Each year on Patriots' Day (traditionally April 19; since 1969, observed on the 3rd Monday in April as part of a 3-day Patriots' Day weekend), the Acton Minutemen[17] lead a march from Acton Center to the Old North Bridge in Concord. This route is known as 'The Isaac Davis Trail' and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 1957, Acton's Troop 1 [2] of the Boy Scouts of America have organized an annual march along the Isaac Davis line of march, and since 1976 the "Scouters of the Isaac Davis Trail" have organized the annual Isaac Davis Camporee [3] .

[Iggo]

13. I'd rather just cut the pledge.

[awoke_in_2003]

16. Talk about missing the point...

someone mentioned the phrase was added due to the red scare, then someone mentions the money the lawsuit costs, the someone posts this:
"Intresting that you should mention money. You know, those pieces of paper that say "In God We Trust;?"

Hey Sherlock- "In God We Trust" was added for the same reason around the same time frame.

[awoke_in_2003]

17. talk about missing the point...

someone mentioned the phrase was added due to the red scare, then someone mentions the money the lawsuit costs, the someone posts this:
"Intresting that you should mention money. You know, those pieces of paper that say "In God We Trust;?"

Hey Sherlock- "In God We Trust" was added for the same reason around the same time frame.