PATRIOT NEWS EDITORIAL: Every so often, someone in a public school forgets a fundamental truth about the freedom guaranteed to Americans in the U.S. Constitution: That freedom includes the right not to participate in patriotic, government-sponsored rituals, like reciting the Pledge of Allegiance…
A Wilson Middle School student has reported that while she was in the school nurse’s office for an illness, the nurse ordered her to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. When the student declined to do so, as is her right, the nurse reportedly refused to treat the student. Carlisle school officials are investigating the case.
If that is indeed what happened, it’s a shocking violation of both the student’s rights and the nurse’s professional ethics… (more)
EDITOR: We all have ample opportunity to demonstrate our patriotism (starting with paying our taxes and showing up to vote, sometimes ending with the loss of life) without having to recite the same pledge every day.
For most of us, once would be enough.
On the other hand, we empathize with the nurse. She lives in a simpler world of observance being sacrosanct. We feel the same way when a flag is allowed to touch the ground.
