Students at Calif. College ban Pledge of Allegiance

Reuters ^ | 11.9.2006

[MichaelManureMoore]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Student leaders at a California college have touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government.

The move by Orange Coast College student trustees, the latest clash over patriotism and religion in American schools, has infuriated some of their classmates -- prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board on Wednesday night in defiance of the rule.

"America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take that away from me," 18-year-old political science major Christine Zoldos told Reuters.

"The fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible," Zoldos said, adding she would attend every board meeting to salute the flag.

The move was lead by three recently elected student trustees, who ran for office wearing revolutionary-style berets and said they do not believe in publicly swearing an oath to the American flag and government at their school. One student trustee voted against the measure, which does not apply to other student groups or campus meetings.

The ban follows a 2002 ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco that said forcing school children to recite the pledge was unconstitutional because of the phrase "under God." The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the ruling on procedural grounds but left the door open for another challenge.

"That ('under God') part is sort of offensive to me," student trustee Jason Bell, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. "I am an atheist and a socialist, and if you know your history, you know that 'under God' was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology."

Bell said the ban largely came about because the trustees didn't want to publicly vow loyalty to the American government before their meetings. "Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through performance, not through reciting a pledge," he said.

Martha Parham, a spokeswoman for the Coast Community College District, said her office had no standing on the student board and took no position on the flag salute ban.

"If their personal belief is that they don't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, the district certainly isn't going to dictate what they do," she said.

More than 28,000 students attend the community college, located in conservative Orange County, California, south of Los Angeles.

[JOE43270]

If this puke bell is an atheist and a socialist, he is not American. Also he should leave America. Yes, I know history and I know about the "UNDER GOD" and when I say the Pledge I say "UNDER GOD".

[SkyPilot]

Evil never sleeps. History repeats itself.

_{Nazi propaganda poster addressing the Dutch public in 1944 with the words: "The USA are supposed to save European culture". The image utilizes a number of themes, some of which (racism, use of excessive force, American culture and the influence of Judaism) are still in use within modern anti-Americanism.}

American has been on the front lines of Good vs. Evil for a long while now. Too many in the world have chosen Evil, and hate America because she has fought the good fight against it.

Millions in our nation have joined the side of Evil.

I believe our role in this struggle is coming to an end. God has blessed America, and used it for His purposes. But now, the battle must be fought by Him alone, because our time is ending.

We are not the nation we once were.

But I know God is at work. I would rather be on God's side when His wrath comes.

"Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord."

(Ez 38:23)

[paratrooper82]

First the liberal socialist ban the pledge of allegiance in Orange County, California, south of Los Angeles.

Next, the liberal squawker of the House Pelosi and the US house of Representatives!

[reformedliberal]

I can't believe that kids are being taught and encouraged to have contempt for their country. That's not how you preserve a country, that's how you destroy it.

---

What makes you think they want to preserve America as we have known it up until now?

Destroying America from within by inculcating the youth against everything she has stood for is precisely the plan, the goal, and is becoming the reality.

[Atlas Sneezed]

they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government.

---

These morons need to read more carefully. They would pledging alleigance to the REPUBLIC (and to the flag that symbolizes it), not to the government.

[MichaelManureMoore]

I know developments like this are far from new, but it really got under my skin. Maybe because we just had an election and the fabric of this country seems to be seriously frayering. The good thing, is that yet again, Liberals have inspired me to make a very simple yet poignant sticker. "I Pledge Allegiance To God & Country."(With a picture of the flag and the cross)

Bumper Sticker
http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.66420155

T-Shirt
http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.82704193

Women's Tee
http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.82705043

[LanPB01]

It really can't be stressed enough how much damage is being done to young people at our colleges. In the past three years, I've worked at a large public university and a small, private one. The amount of brainwashing is astounding.

[swain_forkbeard]

How about cutting off all federal funding to all schools?

[MichaelManureMoore]

I couldn't agree more...though I know it will never happen. If they can't respect their country, maybe they will respect not being able to go to college. Over course that's just an overrated opportunity of freedom. Liberal fools!

[FormerLib]

Deport the little pus brains.

[MichaelManureMoore]

I agree 100%. If they can't appreciate the very freedoms that America affords them, then they need to be deported to a third world country to give them a new perspective. This made me so angry...not that there haven't been similar stories...that I immediately made a "I Pledge Allegiance To God & Country" sticker and shirt.

Sticker
http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.66420155
Men's Shirt
http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.82704193
Women's Shirt
http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.82705043