ok, so i agree with the appeals court in california over this pledge thing- when congress added God to the pledge in 1954 they WERE putting church into the state's business. i can remember saying the pledge in elementary school- i do not feel that it has made me into a better american to have said it. i am sure that charles manson, martha stewart, and amy fisher once pledged allegiance , and it certainly didn't put them on the right road toward model citizenship. i hate to see us as a nation get all mccarthy-like looking for unamerican behavior., when it was the search for personal freedom that brought us all to america. while i have the freedom to worship my version of god, i do not wish to force others to do so. i heard a congressmen quoted on npr this mroning who was drafting a law tro make those children have to say the pledge, and his words made me physically ill- allegiance is something that we should never force anyone to do- think nazis and heil hitler- it is the same thing to force americans to pledge allegiance to god when individuals may not believe in god and believing in god does not make one an american. my brother no longer goes to church because he contends that that is where the hypocrites all congregate- he has a point- making people pledge allegiance to god will not make them want to believe in god- only individuals living a virtuous life can lead anyone toward belief in a higher power through personal testament. i am also against school prayer, for the same reasons.........