When Senator Michael Moore said the Pledge of Allegiance at the Boca Raton student senate meeting on July 18, he loudly emphasized the words “Under God.”
The senator pro-temp did this to show his support for a resolution that stated that the Boca Raton student senate would continue to include the words “One nation under god,” when saying the pledge. It also stated that the senate disagrees with a California court’s ruling that the pledge is unconstitutional.
The resolution is the work of Senate Speaker Nick Kalman. After what happened in California, he knew he had to take action.
At the July 11 meeting he told his fellow senators his views: “These are my convictions and beliefs and I’m putting them forward as your leader.”
He added, “I ask all of you to please read the resolution. Contact me if you support it, but perhaps more importantly, contact me if you don’t support it. Let me know what problems you have and we can try to resolve them. Ultimately, that is what I am here for.”
And Kalman explained his opinions further: “I point to this flag and ask, should the “in God we trust” be taken out of our state seal? “Should we change our currency and use only bankcards, checks, or wait for eye scanners. I doubt any one here has a problem using money that says “in God we trust.”
When the resolution was brought up to be voted on at the July 18 meeting, Sanjiv Anand wanted to voice his opinions on the matter. Unfortunately, he says, he wasn’t given time to say them.
So instead he decided to raise the issue by testing the senate. Anand asked Kalman if he wanted to bring slavery back.
Kalman responded: “To equate the Pledge of Allegiance to slavery, it really doesn’t warrant a response. I think that’s a little extreme. I think you’re skewing this issue to be a religious issue in my opinion.
“We’ve been doing this in this senate for 37 years. So I don’t see what the problem is now,” Kalman added.
The problem to Anand is that he doesn’t believe a resolution was necessary.
“Let’s keep doing what we used to do. Since nobody has denied it, we do not need a bill to reinforce this tradition. Lets not demean and de-sanctify the god by bringing him on this floor and seeking his approval,” he said.
Anand said he even agreed with the bill’s message. “I just wanted to see what the reaction would be. This was a test and they failed. I am a religious person who believes in one god, who has held god at highest esteem, and has never wished bad for the persons of different beliefs.”
In the end, the bill passed unanimously. Anand didn’t chose to object to the bill as he “didn’t want shallow opinions.”
Senator Moore was glad the bill passed. He said, “I think god needs us right now.”
