With the surge of patriotism after the Sept. 11 attacks, Americans are reassessing actions previously considered taboo or un-politically correct.

In Madison, Wis., local school board members experienced the shifting attitudes first-hand. More than 20,000 phone calls and e-mails were sent to the public school district protesting a previous board decision about the Pledge of Allegiance and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Children at the school no longer recited the Pledge of Allegiance and “The Star-Spangled Banner” was used only as an instrumental piece. But community members felt these policies were unpatriotic, and after eight hours of testimony school board officials agreed. The policies were overturned in a 6-1 vote, leaving students free to recite the pledge on a voluntary basis before classes start.

Despite the overwhelming response, concern is still being raised by some community members. They fear students may feel pressured to participate in reciting the pledge, which may be against their religious beliefs. Good intentions were no doubt behind the movement to reinstall the pledge, an effort to help students feel more comfortable and unified during this time of doubt and fear.

That’s great.

So why was the pledge removed with in the first place? If it was because of concern for the students not reciting the pledge or because there is a mention of “God” in the singular sense, those reasons still exist.

They should not be ignored just because everyone wants to show how American they are right now. The religious groups that did not permit reciting the pledge have not changed. They will still not recite the pledge and students participating in them will not either.

Schools need to make sure students are participating in the pledge only on a voluntary basis and not because peer pressure is dictating their actions. They may also want to reconsider some of the wording in the pledge, specifically the line “one nation under God.”

According to the Web page, The Pledge of Allegiance – a short history, the pledge was written in August, 1892 by Francis Bellamy of Boston. It reads: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

“My Flag” was changed to “the Flag of the United States of America” in 1923 and 1924 at the National Flag Conference. “Under God” was added in 1954 by Congress after lobbying by the Knights of Columbus.

And a source of controversy for anyone concerned about the separation of church and state.

If this is something school districts are truly concerned about, perhaps they should consider removing “under God” from the version recited in their classrooms.

It is still true to the original intent of the pledge, just without any religious confusion.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Zach Calef, Omar Tesdell