They didn't go after the Jehovah's Witnesses or Amish - but ----

[Ms. Toad]

37. I believe the difference is largely the audience and money involved in football

Race, in this instance, is just a happy coincidence (for folks like Trump).

I was a Quaker in a very red state during the Vietnam war, and a newspaper reporter in the relatively low-level nationalistic that preceded 9/11 (when schools in the state I live in now required schools affirmatively choose to say the pledge or not. No school board member who wanted to remain in office would have voted NOT to have a daily recitation of the pledge).

I've been singled out more times than I can count for unobtrusively not participating. But there's no political payoff, or audience, for persecuting a middle-school quaker - or a reporter at a local school board meeting - for not participating in the pledge.

I responded similarly to how you did to the the blatantly unconstitutional "moment of silence" at the public school I taught at for years. We just went on with our lessons - I didn't demand anyone stop praying, but I didn't facilitate it in any way. And we discussed the various ways of praying that are not consistent with a moment of silence - to make the point that I wasn't anti-religion, but pro choice in the matter and not elevating any one religion (or religion at all) over another.

But people who insist response is unusual, or different in form have a very different experience than you and I did.