No, the Pledge of Allegiance is not mandatory. The Supreme Court ruled the compulsory reciting of pledges or salutes to the flag unlawful in accordance with the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Pledge of Allegiance, written in 1892 by socialist minister Francis Bellamy, was adopted by Congress in 1942. In American schools, children are asked to stand for the pledge each morning before class starts to demonstrate respect, obedience and conformity.
Although the pledge is treated as a requirement, students and teachers may choose not to stand, observing deeply held religious, political or personal beliefs that may be conflicted by the ceremony.
Public schools must include opt-out and exemption information in their rules, regulations and student policy handbooks.
In 1943, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, West Virginia V. Barnette, determined that no school or government can force a student or teacher to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or salute the flag.
Libertarians support an individual's freedom of choice concerning the Pledge of Allegiance. Students and teachers are free to stand or not, invoking their natural right to free speech that the First Amendment constitutionally protects.
For any pledge to be valid, individual consent is required. The honor of allegiance has not been demonstrated if consent is not exhibited.
The U.S. government cannot force its free citizens, visitors or occupants to recite or stand for any pledge. Furthermore, no one has the authority to make another person pledge their allegiance by force.
Such an implementation of force would be a gross violation of individual sovereignty, the Constitution and the core values of libertarianism.
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