Pledge of Allegiance

[Guest Ken]

Our Blylaw committee is looking having the pledge of allegiance put into our bylaws. It states "ask the members present to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance." And then it goes on to spell out the Pledge. REsearch has found that in 1943 the Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Eduacation v. Barnette that "compulsory unification of opinion" violated the First Ammendment. This has nothing to do with the "under God" phrase which had cast a lot of problems with the pledge, bit forcing members to swear an oath of allegiancehas already been declared unconstitutional.

I know the proposed bylaw change says ask but can it spelled out on how we are to do it?

[Rob Elsman]

Our Blylaw committee is looking having the pledge of allegiance put into our bylaws. It states "ask the members present to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance." And then it goes on to spell out the Pledge. REsearch has found that in 1943 the Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Eduacation v. Barnette that "compulsory unification of opinion" violated the First Ammendment. This has nothing to do with the "under God" phrase which had cast a lot of problems with the pledge, bit forcing members to swear an oath of allegiancehas already been declared unconstitutional.

I know the proposed bylaw change says ask but can it spelled out on how we are to do it?

No rule in RONR prohibits a society from requiring members to stand on their heads and recite the Pledge backwards, if that's what it wants to do.

[Chris Harrison]

Our Blylaw committee is looking having the pledge of allegiance put into our bylaws. It states "ask the members present to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance." And then it goes on to spell out the Pledge. REsearch has found that in 1943 the Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Eduacation v. Barnette that "compulsory unification of opinion" violated the First Ammendment. This has nothing to do with the "under God" phrase which had cast a lot of problems with the pledge, bit forcing members to swear an oath of allegiancehas already been declared unconstitutional.

I know the proposed bylaw change says ask but can it spelled out on how we are to do it?

I am sure it can be but suggesting language is beyond this forum's purview. I would also suggest if this really concerns you all that you contact a lawyer who can advise you of any possible legal implications of having the Pledge included in the bylaws.

[hmtcastle]

Our Bylaw committee is looking having the pledge of allegiance put into our bylaws.

Your bylaw committee should stick to its knitting and not try to fix things that aren't broken.

[Josh Martin]

It states "ask the members present to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance." And then it goes on to spell out the Pledge. REsearch has found that in 1943 the Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia State Board of Eduacation v. Barnette that "compulsory unification of opinion" violated the First Ammendment. This has nothing to do with the "under God" phrase which had cast a lot of problems with the pledge, bit forcing members to swear an oath of allegiancehas already been declared unconstitutional.

I know the proposed bylaw change says ask but can it spelled out on how we are to do it?

The First Amendment relates to restrictions on free speech imposed by the government on citizens, not to restrictions placed by a private society on its members. A Supreme Court ruling relating to the First Amendment is irrelevant unless this is a governmental body. If it is, consult a lawyer. If it's not, your society can put whatever it wants regarding the Pledge of Allegiance in its Bylaw (unless, of course, there are other legal issues involved here).