ND school board axes the Pledge of Allegiance because ‘under God’ doesn’t include other faiths 

A North Dakota school board voted to stop saying the Pledge of Allegiance before meetings because the phrase ‘under God’ doesn’t include all faiths. 

The Fargo School Board voted 7-2 to drop the Pledge on Tuesday because its members felt it wasn’t inclusive. 

During the spring, the board had originally voted to keep the Pledge, but after recent elections – which saw four new board members joining the team – Vice President Seth Holden sought to rescind the previous action, board member Robin Nelson told DailyMail.com on Thursday. 

Nelson, who voted to keep the Pledge, told DailyMail.com that Holden argued that keeping the pledge violated their ‘equity inclusion’ clause and didn’t represent all religions and those who are atheist or agnostic. 

Holden said the Pledge violated their ‘equity inclusion’ clause and did not represent all faiths, board member Robin Nelson, who voted to keep the Pledge, told DailyMail.com on Thursday. He reportedly said the word ‘God’ is ‘capitalized,’ meaning it only represents ‘Judeo-Christian’ religions 

Holden said, according to Inforum, that the word ‘God’ is ‘capitalized’ in the Pledge, meaning it only referred to the ‘Judeo-Christian God, and therefore, it does not include any other faith such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, all of which are practiced by our staff and students.’

Holden also reportedly said that he is not personally against the Pledge, but does not find that it is committed to the religious upbringings of all staff and students. 

However, Nelson and fellow board member Nikkie Gullickson disagreed and voted to keep the Pledge. 

‘I did not want that right removed from me,’ Nelson told DailyMail.com on why she personally voted no. ‘Our job is to focus on the education of the children.’ 

Vice President Seth Holden was the one to bring the Pledge debacle back after it was ruled in the spring to keep reciting it. Although he has nothing personally against the Pledge, he reportedly said it does not represent all students and staff’s faiths, including those who are atheist and agonistic 

Nelson (left) and Nikkie Gullickson (right) voted to keep the Pledge, with Nelson telling DailyMail.com that she did not ‘want that right removed from me.’ She also said the Pledge discussion was ‘distracting’ from ‘other board issues,’ such as student mental health and teacher recruitment 

She also suggested that revisiting the Pledge debacle was a ‘distraction from other board issues,’ such as student mental health and teacher recruitment. 

Although it is unknown the exact religion breakdowns seen through Fargo School District, Nelson told DailyMail.com that it was largely Christian faiths, which many in the local areas being Lutherans or Catholics. 

Lutherans make up around 30 percent of North Dakota’s population and Catholic are just shy of 25 percent, as of 2010.

Former board member David Paulson, who was not reelected and had originally brought up the Pledge debacle in the spring, said his former colleagues are ‘misinterpreting’ the Pledge and focusing on religion, rather than freedom. 

‘The Pledge isn’t a show of our patriotism, it’s an affirmation of our commitment and our loyalty to the greater cause, and that greater cause is freedom,’ he said, according to Inforum. 

The board originally voted to keep the Pledge in the spring, but after recently election – which saw four new members join – Vice President Seth Holden proposed to rescind the previous action, according to an internal memo, obtained by DailyMail.com 

Paulson had attended the recent board meeting to plead his case as to why the board should continue to say the Pledge, citing that many other school boards do. 

Nelson told DailyMail.com that Fargo is the only school district to not say the Pledge in the local area.

School Board President Tracie Newman said she doesn’t have strong feelings toward saying the Pledge or not, but suggested, they say, a ‘shared statement of purpose’ ahead of the meetings instead, according to Inforum. 

‘I’m just not sure that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is a useful way to begin every one of our board meetings,’ she said. ‘I would much prefer that we open our meetings with a shared statement of purpose that would bring us all together to do the work of the board.’