The Pledge of Allegiance in School

I'm not really sure how to preface this so I'm just going to jump right into my opinions.  I think that students have the right to defer from saying the pledge, but I also think that there should be a time for those who chose to say the pledge to do so.  However I don't think the pledge should be taught the way it is.  I usually stand for the pledge, but don't say anything.  This is primarily because of the fact that the pledge holds no meaning for me.  The way the pledge is taught, it is memorized and then repeated over and over.  All it is, is going through the motions and so it holds no meaning for me.  I think that if the pledge was taught differently, as well as being optional from the very beginning, the pledge might have more meaning.  The other issue I have with the pledge is the phrase, "under God".  I have an issue with this because I'm agnostic, and I also don't believe that any part of our government should be so clearly attached to a religion (regardless of the fact that "under God" doesn't suggest a specific religion, it is still a connection to religion in general which is the issue).  I think that people who don't want to hear the pledge are just SOL though.  I don't think it is a huge deal, but for those for whom it is, I think they can just step out of the classroom, maybe go get a drink or just wait to be called back in.  That is really all that needs to be said, so that is all I'm going to say.

Have a great day! :)

ReReading

I like books.  Books are cool.  Gateways into fanciful worlds (as long as we're talking about fantasy and sci-fi or other forms of fiction) that can whisk you away from the dreary day to day life of whomever you may be.  I am in the process of rereading the Wheel of Time (WoT) series by Robert Jordan (and technically Brandon Sanderson too; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jordan skip down a little for the relevant info).  I'm rereading WoT because the final book should be coming out soon, but I didn't want to pick it up so long after reading the most recent one so I am refreshing my memory.  I do this with other book series too and I like the experience of know some of what is about to happen but not knowing the details and rediscovering the book as I go.  If you have a book you really enjoyed I recommend rereading it to bring back old memories from the time you read it last.

I know a lot of good fantasy/sci-fi books if you're interested.  Comment with questions. :)