Pledge of allegiance banned at Calif. college

Orange Coast College has banned the pledge of allegiance. The student trustee leading the charge for the ban said, per al-Reuters:

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"That ('under God') part is sort of offensive to me," student trustee Jason Ball, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. "I am an atheist and a socialist, and if you know your history, you know that 'under God' was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology."

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Banning the pledge is ridiculous, and wrong, plus I don't understand why this socialist would be offended by "under god."

The ban is a difficult issue for me because I generally support the destruction of socialism, a failed policy that has resulted in poverty and death for millions of people. I am also an atheist, though I take no offense if somebody wants to swear an oath "under god." I just won't do it.