united-states first-amendment
Does reciting of Pledge of Allegiance in public schools voilate the 1st Amendment?
<p>The Pledge of Allegiance is commonly recited in public (and most private) schools in the USA.</p>

<p>Does the current practice of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools violate the 1st Amendment?</p>

<p>The First Amendment does not guarantee a right to not be offended. However, as held in <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/319/624.html" rel="nofollow">West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette</a>, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), it does prohibit compelled speech, and a person cannot be compelled to recite the pledge. The basis is not religion: this is a general prohibition on what the government can do. ("Parental consent" comes through the school informing parents of the right to not recite the pledge, and a parent who objects will tell their child to not recite the pledge, thus consent is implicit for those parents whose children do recite -- unless the child's actions don't reflect the parents' intent).</p>

<p>The pledge does not violate the first amendment because it is not required. No one is legally required to say the pledge, you are allowed, by law to abstain from reciting the pledge. As for the pledge potentially violating the second commandment, neither the flag nor the eagle atop it (by the way, not all U.S. flags have eagles on top) represent a "graven image". A "graven image" is a carved idol of a god used for the purpose of worship. The flag is not carved, and neither the flag nor the eagle represent any god, nor are either worshiped as such by any group of people. Furthermore, if there were a group of people who DID worship either the flag or the eagle as a god (unlikely), they would by definition NOT be Christians, so the 2nd Commandment would be as meaningless to them as it is to Hindus or anyone else from a non-Abrahamic faith. </p>
