PRIOR LAKE, Minn. – A student’s alleged mistake of omitting “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance is sparking a raging debate online about religion in schools.

Officials at Prior Lake Savage Area Schools posted an apology to Facebook Tuesday after a student supposedly “got distracted” and omitted “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance during the morning announcements, Fox 9 reports.

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The post read:

A mistake was made in the reading of the Pledge of Allegiance this morning at Prior Lake High School, and the phrase “under God” was unintentionally left out. The reader got distracted, which resulted in the mistake. The Pledge will continue to be recited each week in its entirety, as it has been for the past several years.

 

A mistake was made in the reading of the Pledge of Allegiance this morning at Prior Lake High School, and the phrase “…

Posted by Prior Lake Savage Area Schools on Tuesday, January 5, 2016

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The most popular reaction, which garnered 95 “likes,” came from Ken Kressin, who argued God has no place in the Pledge to begin with.

“Perhaps the student was one of the 11 percent or so students in the district who do not believe in God … and not satisfied with having their religious liberty trampled each morning,” he posted. “Besides, like many things, the original ‘one nation indivisible’ is better – doesn’t promote one religion over another, or trample on no religion.”

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Commenter Montana Fam seemed to agree with Kressin.

“I’m disappointed in reading this,” Montana Fam wrote. “It’s a passive aggressive way to brush past the reader’s beliefs and convictions. ‘Under God’ was added to the pledge. It isn’t part of the original pledge of allegiance and should be left out.

“It’s a direct reference to a religious belief and should not (be) mandated at any school. Bravo to the person who read the pledge correctly. Your intentions were noted and appreciated.”

Others believe students should be able to read either version of the Pledge – with or without “under God.”

“But that is the pledge as it is meant to be,” David Raymond wrote. “Now I have no problem with under God myself but it was added to the pledge in the fifties during the commie scare. So it was said in its entirety.

“As far as I’m concerned the original pledge and the revived pledge are equally accurate,” he posted. “There is no need to apologize, you did nothing wrong.”

“It’s ok,” Elisabeth Adams Iribe commented. “No one is angry that the original pledge was read. Good chance for a little extra education.”

Joe Agnost also believes students should learn about both versions of the Pledge, and why the change was made.

“I like the original pledge better than the new one anyway,” he posted. “Why not read the original one more often – perhaps remind the students why ‘under God’ was added in 1954 and teach them about the Communist scare?”