Should Sonoma Valley School Children Have to Recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

With Sonoma Valley students headed back to the classroom on August 21, they likely start each day with the Pledge of Allegiance or some other “appropriate patriotic exercises” — a tradition that goes back generations.

In California, as is the case with many states, classrooms in public schools are required to offer the pledge or a patriotic exercise like singing the National Anthem daily, but students are not required to actually stand up and recite it. Most do, of course, but some students object to the phrase "Under God" and refuse to take part in the daily routine.

The issue has surfaced nationally. Earlier this year, a state lawmaker in Arizona introduced a bill to require students to recite the pledge. Other states, including Oregon and Nebraska, have had discussions on whether to require the pledge to be recited in schools.

For three decades, the pledge didn’t have the phrase “Under God.” But in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower pushed for Congress to add the phrase to combat communist threats, leaving Americans with the 31-words we have today:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

We asked the question on Facebook and got a resounding yes from those who replied to the question.

“I did when I was in school, said Margaret Tinsley Rodgers on the Sonoma Valley Facebook page.  “It taught me my Country was a special place. I knew it was to be revered and respected and love and pride was developed. And what is wrong with that?”

What do you think?    Should the Pledge be required?  Should we drop “under God”?  Tell us in comments.