The United States of America is a country that is filled with pride and patriotism. The patriotism of the United States shines through in the pageantry and symbolic nature by which governments and schools operate. However, there are some out there who wish to ban forms of patriotism such as singing the national anthem or stating the Pledge of Allegiance. During a Bladen County Board of Elections meeting a Woman by the name of Luella Thompson, stated her feelings on the issue of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
During the meeting a vote was called to add stating the pledge of allegiance to the official agenda of election meetings in Bladen County. This did not bode well with Ms Thompson, who stated that a crime had been committed because there was a disruption to the meeting by those who stated the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance was not voted in as there was a democratic majority, so the motion failed. One of the audience members that evening, a man by the name of Dan Smith, stood up and recited the Pledge of Allegiance and a few people in the audience joined him which was a shock and an affront to Miss Thompson who felt the actions were illegal. There are many instances where the Pledge of Allegiance is recited at government meetings both local and at the state level. There is no law that says the Pledge of Allegiance cannot be stated or recited at Council or government meetings but you cannot be compelled to recite the pledge of allegiance.
Over the years there have been many challenges to the Pledge of Allegiance and it being stated in schools or other organizations. The opponents of the Pledge of Allegiance dictate that having to say words like under God directly violate the First Amendment and the separation of church and state. In the midst of the backlash, Luella Thompson indicated that they will add the Pledge of Allegiance to future meetings of the board.
Initially, Ms. Thompson joined the board in order to stamp out absentee voter fraud allegations, but now Republican state house Speaker Tim Moore is demanding Thompson’s resignation, citing that her change of mind was not enough. In his opinion what Ms. Thompson did outlines a disrespect for the due processes of the United States of America and showed that Ms. Thompson was emulating disrespect and corruption in an official capacity. Incidentally, this is not the first demonstration of Ms Thompson’s bias and it was reported that in 2018 she and another member of Bladen County Board of Elections made social media posts that disparaged President Donald Trump. People in positions of power must maintain an air of unbiased behavior and hold themselves beyond reproach. It is unclear at this stage whether Ms. Thompson will keep her position on the board, but given the circumstances it may be prudent to assess the roles and job functions of all members of the board in their official capacity.
