Many states require that teachers engage in daily patriotic exercises.
For many, this means recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.

For some people, the Pledge of Allegiance raises serious issues.
Some people have religious objections to the saying of any pledge or oath.
Others object to the Pledge of Allegiance because it contains a reference to God.
Still others find that rote recital of the pledge is devoid of meaningful content.

But abstaining from the Pledge of Allegiance can be troublesome.
Students who do not recite the Pledge risk social exclusion and discipline.
Teachers who do not recite the pledge risk employment and legal consequences.

There is a better way.

The Sixty-Second Patriot intends to provide truthful, age-appropriate, meaningful, educationally-rich, non-controversial, secular ways to fulfill the law's requirement of patriotic exercises.

This is done with brief meditations on American history, civics, and values that are accessible to all people.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Election of 1800

In 1800, John Adams was the President and he ran for re-election against his rival Thomas Jefferson. Adams and Jefferson had very different ideas about how to run the country and they did not like each other very much. Jefferson won, but there were a lot of hard feelings. Adams could have tried to hang on to power, but instead he allowed Jefferson to become President. Up until then, people with new political ideas could only come to power after violence. The Adams-Jefferson election showed the world that there was a different way. They set the example of how even when people really disagree with each other, power in America goes according to how the people as a whole cast their votes. In fact, later in their lives, Adams and Jefferson set their differences aside and became friends.
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