Students at Calif college ban Pledge of Allegiance

[voivod]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Student leaders at a California college have touched off a furor by banning the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, saying they see no reason to publicly swear loyalty to God and the U.S. government.

The move by Orange Coast College student trustees, the latest clash over patriotism and religion in American schools, has infuriated some of their classmates -- prompting one young woman to loudly recite the pledge in front of the board on Wednesday night in defiance of the rule.

"America is the one thing I'm passionate about and I can't let them take that away from me," 18-year-old political science major Christine Zoldos told Reuters.

"The fact that they have enough power to ban one of the most valued traditions in America is just horrible," Zoldos said, adding she would attend every board meeting to salute the flag.

The move was led by three recently elected student trustees, who ran for office wearing revolutionary-style berets and said they do not believe in publicly swearing an oath to the American flag and government at their school. One student trustee voted against the measure, which does not apply to other student groups or campus meetings.

The ban follows a 2002 ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco that said forcing school children to recite the pledge was unconstitutional because of the phrase "under God." The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the ruling on procedural grounds but left the door open for another challenge.

"That ('under God') part is sort of offensive to me," student trustee Jason Ball, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. "I am an atheist and a socialist, and if you know your history, you know that 'under God' was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology."

Ball said the ban largely came about because the trustees didn't want to publicly vow loyalty to the American government before their meetings. "Loyalty ought to be something the government earns through performance, not through reciting a pledge," he said.

Martha Parham, a spokeswoman for the Coast Community College District, said her office had no standing on the student board and took no position on the flag salute ban.

"If their personal belief is that they don't want to say the Pledge of Allegiance, the district certainly isn't going to dictate what they do," she said.

More than 28,000 students attend the community college, located in conservative Orange County, California, south of Los Angeles.

[vistadelrey]

cali eh? what do you expect?

[ZeoBandit]

Damn hippies

[SactoFan]

I love the ideological purity of people who see a need to ban free speech in defense of freedom...

[Axxman300]

How does this guy not expect to get his ass kicked? Car vandalized?

Community college is so expensive in California as it is, this move will invite lawsuits from both side and that will cost the school and taxpayers money.

Shit like this is going to end the community college system in this state.

Thanks a lot, asswipe.

[Axxman300]

Also, who say's the Pledge at a JC anyway?

I went to one off and on for five years and I never said the pledge? I guess I would have but if somebody refused to stand it's no skin off my back, it's college not kindergarden.

[Brett]

Who cares about a fucking JC. Bunch of 13th graders.

[LLFHS]

I'm an athiest too, but this is fuckin stupid.

Why ban? Why can't these idiots just not recite the pledge, or omit the parts they can't stand by.

Myself, I ain't said the pledge since '88. But if I were in school today, I'd simply not say the 'under god' part and be on my merry way. I love my country, and the principles it was founded on. I don't see the pledge as a kneeling before the government, but the spirit of America, and of freedom, and as a sign of solemn respect to those who served to give it to us.

[Dan Halen]

"You kids are destroying America! I'm putting you on notice."