This Is Coercion, Folks

During the debates about the Pledge of Allegiance case that was heard by the Supreme Court last week, one of the fall back arguments of the "under God" side was that kids are not required to recite the pledge at all and, therefore, they can opt out of saying "under God." The comeback to that argument is that being the only kid in a classroom to not do something is inherently coercive. The Supreme Court doesn't like religious coercion in the public schools. For an example of what happens when a kid dares to try and refuse, consider this story from Washington state. What's even more ironic is that, as Washington is in the Ninth Circuit, "under God" is already out of the Pledge there (until the Supremes say otherwise).