Quote Originally Posted by Autumn Rain
Actually, forcing children to say the pledge is a little more than "exposing them to religion". And while certain forefathers may have been Christian, this country was founded under the freedom of choice. And our freedom to choose our own religion or none at all IS violated here, because it forces people to verbally acknowledge a God that they prolly don't believe in. And that's something far different than being accepting of your beliefs.
Yet the pledge in and of itself is not religious. Nor is it forcing a set of religious beliefs or practices on anyone. It merely has the word god in it. As I mentioned in the post prior to yours, I was an atheist in high school and I just omitted the word god, thus rendering the pledge completely devoid of any religious connotation whatsoever. I wasn't forced to say the word god, (or the pledge for that matter). As an atheist I didn't feel that my rights were trampled on, at all. Just as I think anyone else could do. In the case of someone from another faith, I am sure that when they say the words "under god" it is directed toward their own god. So from their perspective, I don't see their rights being violated either, since it merely says "god" which is unassuming.