6th Grader refuses to stand for pledge of allegiance, arrested for "disturbance"

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Let us remember that there is one religious body, the Jehovah's Witnesses, that treats any reverence to any national symbol (including the Flag) as an act of idolatry. Are Jehovah's Witnesses evil  for that?

In view of Donald Trump and many other political figures debasing the meaning of America, we need recognize that symbols and reality are very different things. 

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I've been a substitute teacher, and I have asked about the situation before being hired. I know about Jehovah's Witnesses, and I understand that they consider any salute to the flag an abominable act of idolatry. Jehovah's Witnesses have as much a right to a public-school education as any other kids, and they should not be singled out for a benign difference.

They also deserve respect for making principled exceptions to a social norm if such is a dictate of their religious culture. I may not be much of a religious man, but I will stand behind the rights of People of Faith at every turn. Refusal to treat a symbol of benign patriotism with normal reverence is a right, which I will not say about ignorance. (One can  believe something so pointless as young-earth creationism, but one has no 'right' to not know about mainstream science on evolution, astronomy, archeology, paleontology and plate tectonics if those are elements of the science that are part of the public-school curriculum simply because evolution and a short-lived Earth violate one's superstitions.

OK, so what if the kid's parents are Communists? Were I a Commie I would recognize that during the Great Patriotic War, forty-eight stars and thirteen stripes symbolized an  ally of the Soviet Union. The Pledge of Allegiance has nothing to do with "free enterprise" or "class privilege" both anathemas to Communism. If I had to choose between loyalty to the American working class (which is far more Americans) or to an irresponsible ruling class of exploitative property owners and executives, my loyalty would be to the working class. Anyone who supports fascism or a neo-feudal social order is to me (and I am not a Communist  because I distrust Communists with human rights) is as much a traitor to America as any Communist could ever be, and even worse, supports the sort of realities that make a proletarian revolution possible.

(I would drop the "under God" part, added in the 1950s on the assumption that support for the Judeo-Christian concept of God is essential to rejection of Communism. Would you have a problem with someone who says "under Allah" instead of "under God"? It is the same God.   

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  Why don't schools have a response staff for unruly children that doesn't involve police or security officers. They should have people trained to deescalate children with behavioral issues throwing tantrums or kids with special needs acting out their frustrations. Imagine the work that could be done with that approach instead of criminalizing children and turning everything into an incident.

This is an exercise of freedom of religion within a public institution. It is never acceptable to compel a student in a public school to do something contrary to his beliefs. A student has no obligation to give a prayer that contains a clear violation of his beliefs, to perform an act that his religious beliefs hold as idolatrous, to deny one's religious beliefs or tenets, or to experience a mockery of his religious views.

I had to tread lightly on a Satanist, of all things. You can just imagine how objectionable Satanism is to me, as I would never imagine worshiping an entity who would destroy Humanity in its service. But someone did, probably to shock me, and all I could say was to recite a portion of the First Amendment regarding religious freedom. I could notice that his ritual cadged pieces of the Roman Catholic Mass and a Masonic ceremony, which is terribly unoriginal. I could explain why I was not a Satanist and that I would never become one. I expressed my perplexed state by stating that I had encountered a great variety of religious beliefs that did not fit my cultural values but seemed to fortify the goodness and decency of those people -- but that Satanism seemed unlikely to ever do that.

No, you do not get a Jew to participate in a prayer that ends "In Jesus' Name we pray". (Paradoxically practically any Jewish prayer is compatible with Christianity). No, you treat Mohammed with kid gloves. You do not contend that Buddhism is absurd. You do not ridicule the Book of Mormon. You do not demand that students deny the existence of God or tell them that if they fail to believe as you do that they will burn in Hell.

A public school must accommodate a variety of religious beliefs, not including those that happen to be a majority view or somehow fitting the mainstream. It must accommodate religious views that are inconvenient and strange. It is not the place for missionary efforts or attempt to 'correct' the religious beliefs of students.   

[pbrower2a]

This is an exercise of freedom of religion within a public institution.

 I agree as I posted before. I also think the substitute teacher instigated and escalated the situation. Even if the student was in the right, a team of more qualified people could have arrived in the classroom. They could have reassured the student that standing or reciting the pledge was not mandatory. The substitute teacher instead incorrectly dismissed the sentiment the student expressed and basically told the student to "go back to Africa".

There are things that a substitute teacher can confront a student on because what the student says or does is incontrovertibly wrong -- such as suggesting that he can do better in life by dealing in drugs or expressing overt racism. I have encountered both, and in both cases I referred the student to the principal's office.