George, if you have ever been to a public school you know that "optional" is not a word that can ever be applied to soemthing lead by the school itself in which nearly everyone takes part. That is called intimidation.

For those who want to pray, and pledge, and whatever else they want in school, I offer a simple idea. Offer 5 minutes before or after mandatory school hours where anyone who wants to is free to attend and recite whatever voodoo they want -- The Lord's Prayer, The Pledge, lyrics to NWA's "F**K The Police", a Wiccan prayer to the Earth Mother Goddess, a Hebrew invocation, a gay rights manifesto, etc -- and they can each go to their own room and do what they want. I would support that wholeheartedly.

America's conservative Christians don't want that because they believe their personal belief system is superior to every other one I just mentioned and theyt want to intimidate everyone into acting like them. They want to shame those who are different. They have no respect for individuality. And thos eare the people our forefathers were protecting themselves against when they adopted the Bill Of Rights. God bles the Supreme Court for being smart enough to see that forced observance is the same as persecution!