Utah state senator wants all high school students forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each day, and according to the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper, "doesn't mind pushing the constitutional envelope to accomplish patriotic assimilation in the state's public schools."

   West Jordan Republican Sen. Chris Buttars told reporters, "Kids ought to know what our pledge is," and has directed the attorneys for the Mormon-dominate state to draft appropriate legislation. Critics says that he is violating Supreme Court decisions, and that youngsters may not be forced to salute the flag or recite any rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance.

   "It's a clear violation of the First Amendment to require you to say something," warned Dani Eyer of the Utah ACLU. And Mike Rivers, Utah State Director for American Atheists, promises that he will be mobilizing his network of volunteers to oppose the measure, and possibly even initiate a legal challenge if Buttars proceeds with his reckless plan. He's also asking the Salt Lake Valley Atheists and other organizations to enter the squabble by writing letters, placing phone calls and alerting the community to Sen. Buttars' plan.

   The senator defends the proposal, saying that students "out to know what their government is about. And the pledge tells you what that means definitively, plainly and simply."

   Critics, though, say that this type of legislation -- popular at the federal and state level especially after the events of 9-11 -- has a more subtle and deceptive agenda.

   "If they want kids to learn about America, that's something to be addressed in the history class," said Mr. Rivers. "This is about trying to make the case that America is 'under God,' and to promote religion in schools."

   The history of the pledge is a convoluted one. It was originally penned by a "Christian Socialist" Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy, as part of a campaign to peddle American flags to the public schools. Originally, the formal pledge was recited by giving a stiff, uplifted right hand salute which mimicked the Fascist gesture. That practiced was discontinued in World War II, and the wording of the pledge underwent several modifications.

   During the cold war with the "godless" Soviet Union, organizations such as the American Legion and the Catholic Knights of Columbus pressured Congress to amalgamate the phrase "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. President Eisenhower signed enabling legislation in 1954. The nation's secular motto, "E Pluribus Unum" was also replaced with a religionized slogan, "In God We Trust."

   Mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance was challenged, and in 1940 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Pennsylvania school district violated the rights of Lillian and William Gobitis when it expelled them from school for not taking part in the flag ritual. Three years later, a West Virginia state law was struck down, and the court admonished school districts that children may not be compelled to salute the flag if doing so conflicted with their religious beliefs.

   Support of the pledge, especially when "captive" and vulnerable audiences such as youngsters are involved, has become part-and-parcel of American election rhetoric, and the wider cultural debate over "family values." The issue has become especially contentious in the wake of a June, 2002 ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court which found the "under God" phrase included in the pledge recitation to be an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Dr. Michael Newdow, a California physician and attorney, challenged the religionized pledge; Judge Alfred T. Goodwin opined that, "A profession that we are a nation 'under God' is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation 'under Jesus,' a nation 'under Vishnu,' a nation 'under Zeus,' or a nation 'under no god,' because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion."

   Three years ago, the Utah state legislature approved a law mandating elementary school youngsters to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and circumvented Supreme Court rulings by suggesting that students may "opt out" of the requirement with a letter from parents. That may not stand judicial scrutiny, though; critics of the law point out that those who decline to participate in something like the Pledge of Allegiance -- as with compulsory school prayer forty years ago -- are marginalized, singled-out and sometimes even harassed for their beliefs, or lack thereof.

   "We don't mean to be disrespectful in any way," Mr. Rivers told reporters. "But we don't want to be forced into beliefs that we don't share."

   Sen. Buttars, though, is taking a less tolerant and more belligerent stance.

   "Let's them have at it," he blustered. "It blows me away that someone would be against any American kid having to say the Pledge of Allegiance to his country. That includes 'under God.' He can have his own God in his own way as long as he says it."

[text only]