As I watch eager children (and not so eager high school students) waiting for the school bus, I am reminded of a Facebook comment a friend made last year around this same time.

She and her husband are atheists, and have raised their child to be just as skeptical. Having said that, they are a warm and loving family with good values, and not having a Higher Power has certainly not diminished the awe and wonder that the child feels while discovering nature and friendship with other people. Good times, all around.

But then school started, and a quandary happened. The parents had not prepared their child for the Pledge of Allegiance, a nominal token of morning patriotism where children place their hands on their chests and declare the USA is “one nation, under God”. How would this child react to that? What kind of conversation would the family need to have, after [Read more…]