While reading Blaine Moyle’s column, “Pledge does more harm then good.” I found myself constantly distracted by my “intelligent thought alarm.”

While I appreciate Mr. Moyles’s attempt at putting forth an opinion worth reading, I would have enjoyed reading past “but at least think about it for moment,” and finding an argument or set of reasons worth thinking about. Instead he decides to forgo popular method, and enlist his views and his high school assembly experience as the bulk of argument.

Mr. Moyle starts by pointing out the fact that some students would choose not to participate in the pledge because of political or religious reasons. This is true and our Constitution affords us that right.

He goes on to say that in doing so these children would become targets for those that do not share their sentiment. Thus we should “not force” children to recite the pledge.

This seems like a good argument. Do nothing that causes people the misfortune of being at all different from those around you. That independent thought alarm should be going off now. I wish they had enacted his logic when I was in the fourth grade and was falling behind in my reading class. My teacher should have thought as progressively as Mr. Moyle and stopped teaching those ahead of me so that I would not have felt so different and thus been a target. No, instead I had to work harder and confront those that targeted me for being different.

Mr. Moyle’s second point, that the pledge “doesn’t instill the idea of patriotism,” is correct. Instead of defining the word patriotism, he might have looked at the definition of the word “pledge.” It’s also a noun, meaning to guarantee or promise. Lastly – God; this topic seemed to be the most contentious of the whole article. Just because the word God exists in the pledge does not take away from its meaning. I don’t hear you complaining about God being on the dollar bill – talk about religious persecution.

I realize this country is not perfect. All we can do is work together to make it better, what unites us, as Americans – love for our country. So the next time you are forced to say the “Pledge of Allegiance,” omit God, take the pledge or go find yourself a new country and get out of the one I love.

Gregory L. Schleusner

Senior

Architecture