Kevin H wrote: 
> the vast majority of Virginians now recite the Pledge of 
> Allegiance with untroubled consciences.  Those who think 
> about its words--a minority, to be sure--do not as a consequence 
> of thinking about it refuse to say the Pledge, for principled 
> reasons.  Quite the contrary, most Virginians now are in 
> fundamental accord with the understanding of the constitution 
> articulated in the Pledge, and have no principled objection to 
> reciting it.  

Kevin:
 
Re your second question and the answer you have given above: we need to remember that reciting the pledge is, as you say, a ritual, not a legally binding act. Not, I would go even further to suggest, an act with any real political significance whatsoever. First, consider who recites the pledge: mainly children (non-voters almost exclusively), plus their teachers (maybe). "Untroubled consciences" indeed! You suppose a small number "think about it," and a minority of that group "might refuse to say the pledge for principled reasons. I am not sure we would need all the fingers on my two hands to count the number of Virginians who might fall into this last category.
 
As a ritual, the pledge is indubitably something to recite, not something to parse for meaning. We are not the constitutional descendants of the fellow who wrote the pledge in the 1892. As you may know (if you have kids), what is actually recited often bears only slight resemblance to the "correct" words. But that's okay--no one is paying attention anyway. I recall one of my daughters reciting it for me at home after a regular day of Kindergarten at St. Mary's School in Oswego, New York. It was then that I discovered, to my surprise, that the pledge did not end with "liberty and justice for all," but continued, full speed ahead, "HailMaryfullofgracethelordiswithyou...."
 
I would bet the same thing happens somewhere every day in the "Old Dominion" too.
 
Doug Deal
History/SUNY Oswego

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