Babette Josephs, a PA Rep refused Pledge of allegiance at a recent house committee meeting and has now come under fire.

The reason Babette states for making the stance is based on the specific words “Under God.” Babette says the words “under god” make the pledge a prayer. Babette was asked by Republican Chairman Darryl Metcalfe to lead the prayer. Babette refused to lead the prayer saying “Based on my First Amendment rights and based on the fact that I really think it’s a prayer, I don’t pray in public.”

later Metcalfe was interview by reporters. “I think it is shocking that any elected official would not pledge allegiance to the flag. It’s a person’s right to not say the pledge, but I don’t believe anybody should be in elected office that holds that position, and I think a majority of Americans wouldn’t elect somebody if they held that position.”

The underlying notion is that MetCalfe believe Babette to be un-American for simply not stating the pledge. However what she did is exactly American. The united states has a clear statement on the involvement of religion in the state. Separation of Church and State. If there is anything un-American about what happened here it is the actual pledge itself. Having the words “Under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance is a clear violation of all Americans rights.

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