Doug--

Three quick things.  First, and least important, I do not think that I have ever suggested that the pledge of allegiance is "a legally binding act."  I am, I have to confess, confused as to where or how you drew that inference?

Second, and more on point--I disagree with you that public rituals convey no political significance.  That is a topic that is tangential to the one under discussion here, since it takes us away from discussion of Virginia history.  But I would like to go on record to register my disagreement.  

Just anecdotally, every elementary school teacher I have talked to who has taught my children, and every elementary school principal in my direct acquaintance, is quite capable of parsing the Pledge of Allegiance.  But equally important, they are all of them thoughtful people.  When you talk to the people who exercise power to structure the daily routine of the students, I would submit to you that they are quite well aware of what they do and why they do it.  What they do is actively to encourage every young person under their care to recite the Pledge--and they do this because they understand full well what the Pledge says and means, and on the whole believe in it (including, I might add, in the part of Virginia in which I live, "under God.")

Third, and most on point--I stand by my conviction that most people in Virginia today would agree that the outcome of the Civil War settled the question we are discussing.  That is, I think that at some point in the last thirty or so years (and perhaps earlier), the majority of Virginians committed themselves to the line of constitutional interpretation articulated by the Pledge of Allegiance.  Now, I am open to the possibility that the bit of data I adduced to demonstrate that point--recitation of the Pledge--may not in fact serve as a compelling evidence for my claim.  But the claim itself still stands, and it is to that claim that I would wish to draw attention and discussion.

All best,
Kevin
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University

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