[mhking]

Kids have a right in a public school not to be endoctrinated on the subject of religion

I'm sorry - you mean to tell me that the inclusion of two words - "under God" - means that schools are endoctrinating religion!? Would you kindly tell me what religion that they are promoting? I would insist that most (if not all) religions have a single God (or god, if you insist) at the head of whatever pantheon that is central to their belief structure. The pledge acknowleges that fact, by not singling out the Christian nor Jewish nor Islamic nor any other perception of God.

I would say that this father is wrong to impose his beliefs on the masses.

In the Florida case (which the father lost by the way), the school offered the opportunity for his child to step out of the room or otherwise be excused from saying the pledge. The father insisted that this was not good enough, because his child should not have to listen to others recite the pledge in school. Hence his decision to move across the country and to bring his suit in a different court.

[Viva Le Dissention]

You don't have to mention a particular religion in order to endorse religion. What if I'm atheist or Buddist or Pagan and I don't believe in a Big G God? What if I raise my children that way--why is government contradicting the way I raise my child in terms of religious beliefs?

There was a big stink when the Court ruled that kids did not have to recite the pledge on religious grounds, and this just goes another step. If you don't like it, when you wake your kid up every morning, recite the pledge with him and include under God.

Meantime, school is neither the time nor the place to discuss religion in any broad sense, as this one.