Letters: A funny thing happened on the way to political correctness – Lincoln Courier

Dear Editor,

Political correctness is everywhere.A national humanist group brought a lawsuit against the school alleging that a family with children in that school is being discriminated against because their children are atheists and the words, under God are discriminatory against them and all other atheist children. The American Humanist Association is an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. and on behalf of the family in question has filed a suit in a state court demanding the words under God be stricken from the Pledge of Allegiance.

The American Humanist Association maintains the words added have marginalized atheist and humanist kids as something less than ideal patriots. In fact, the atheist organization insist that those two words brings the state and school district in direct violation of the states constitutional right to equal protection. The organizations attorney stated the schools should not allow the Pledge with such egregious words in them because it constitutes an exercise that teaches students that patriotism is tied to a belief in God. The attorney continued to say, Such a daily exercise portrays atheist and humanist children as second-class citizens, and certainly contributes to anti-atheist prejudices.

Of course the attorney speaking for the school district stated that even though the state law requires the Pledge be recited daily, individual students may choose not to participate if they so wish. The school district attorney stated, The district is merely following a state law that requires schools to have a daily recitation of the pledge. He continued, We are disappointed that this national organization has targeted Matawan-Aberdeen for merely obeying the law as it stands.

This is such an interesting play on the political correctness and the absurdity of trying to turn around a decades-old practice to suit the preferences of those who do not believe in God.

Just for fun, lets say that the atheist group is right and their being offended by the utterance of the two words, under God somehow makes their atheist children less patriotic. If the court decides to feel their pain and decree the two words be stricken from the Pledge, by logic wouldnt the sameoffensebe perpetrated against those children who have been practicing those words each day be violated in much the same way. So the American Humanist Association has no qualms about foisting that same offensive practice of saying the Pledge without the two words that have been spoken by students of at least four generations during the past several decades? By having the pain of discrimination lifted from their shoulders they, in turn, would have the courts plant that same pain of discrimination on the shoulders of the many more tens of thousands of people who do believe in the words under God?

When will we all, as a group of Americans, come to realize that this thing we call political correctness is not only discrimination against another group, but it establishes a double standard of operation that is more often than not a discrimination against the majority of people holding the disputed belief?

Jim Killebrew

Lincoln, Illinois

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Letters: A funny thing happened on the way to political correctness - Lincoln Courier