Arcana XV

So, apparently this school in Wisconsin has been allowing students to recite the Pledge in several other languages, including Spanish, for many years. This is not the first time they do it, so why are people making such a fuss about it now?

I found it interesting that the state's constitution was originally written in 3 languages, English, German and Norwegian, but now people are getting all bent out of shape about the Pledge being recited in something other than English. The words are the same, the allegiance is still being pledged to the United States. So what am I missing? Where is the problem here?

School Superintendent Threatened over Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish | The Progressive

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"Yes, but are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?".- Northern Irish joke

TacticalEvilDan

HA! And I thought *I* had memory problems.

This, my dear, is what happens when you mix too little education with too many pundits repeating the same words over and over and over.

Seriously, this is the kind of **** that makes me afraid of 1984. Not the government oversight, the wholesale manipulation of the groupthink.

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Arcana XV

I guess you're right. It would certainly explain why this is suddenly a problem to some of those parents. It's very easy to tie this all in with the illegal immigration issue.

jamesrage

Schools do not often inform parents of such things.

Perhaps the problem is that the United States is a english speaking country.With the rise of legal and illegal immigrants refusing to learn english the multi-lingual pledge of alligiance is probably seen as another means of catering to those who refuse to learn english.

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Arcana XV

Yes, but this wasn't about legal or illegal immigrants being catered to. This was a class of American students who happen to be learning a foreign language and who were given the opportunity to show off their new skill through the school intercom. One time.

Some of the parents' reactions, especially the one who claims that pledging allegiance to the American flag in another language is disrespectful to the troops, were clearly over the top.

As for the immigrants refusing to learn english, that is a problem which could be easily fixed by finally making english the US' official language everywhere. Several states have already done so and no longer "cater" to those who don't bother to learn it. Why is it that every time this is proposed at the federal level it gets shot down?

aegyptos

Multiculturalism. The country is filled up and getting crowded. I'd like to keep them all out.

Arcana XV

Even the ones who come in legally? That's a little harsh. If the country was really filled up, the government would have stopped issuing green cards.

aegyptos

Yes, all of them.

The US government? Surely you're joking.

jallman

I don't see the problem here either. English is not an "official" language in the US. If they are saying the pledge in a language they understand, all the better. I liken it to having to say the Lord's Prayer in latin...you get nothing out of it if you don't understand what you're saying. If the Vatican can be lax about something like that, I'm sure the US can tolerate having the pledge said in other languages, too.

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I don't care if McCain and Palin have to dine on mentally handicapped babies with the devil himself to deliver us the White House. If that's what it takes, I'll personally put in the order for a case of barbecue sauce myself.

Arcana XV

And here I thought I would only ever hear this kind of talk from European extreme-right wing politicians.

Nah.