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Claudezero · 11-21-2009, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Will Phillips isn't like other boys his age.

For one thing, he's smart. Scary smart. A student in the West Fork School District in Washington County, he skipped a grade this year, going directly from the third to the fifth. When his family goes for a drive, discussions are much more apt to be about Teddy Roosevelt and terraforming Mars than they are about Spongebob Squarepants and what's playing on Radio Disney.

It was during one of those drives that the discussion turned to the pledge of allegiance and what it means. Laura Phillips is Will's mother. “Yes, my son is 10,” she said. “But he's probably more aware of the meaning of the pledge than a lot of adults. He's not just doing it rote recitation. We raised him to be aware of what's right, what's wrong, and what's fair.”

Will's family has a number of gay friends. In recent years, Laura Phillips said, they've been trying to be a straight ally to the gay community, going to the pride parades and standing up for the rights of their gay and lesbian neighbors. They've been especially dismayed by the effort to take away the rights of homosexuals – the right to marry, and the right to adopt. Given that, Will immediately saw a problem with the pledge of allegiance.

“I've always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer,” Will said. “I really don't feel that there's currently liberty and justice for all.”

After asking his parents whether it was against the law not to stand for the pledge, Will decided to do something. On Monday, Oct. 5, when the other kids in his class stood up to recite the pledge of allegiance, he remained sitting down. The class had a substitute teacher that week, a retired educator from the district, who knew Will's mother and grandmother. Though the substitute tried to make him stand up, he respectfully refused. He did it again the next day, and the next day. Each day, the substitute got a little more cross with him. On Thursday, it finally came to a head. The teacher, Will said, told him that she knew his mother and grandmother, and they would want him to stand and say the pledge.

“She got a lot more angry and raised her voice and brought my mom and my grandma up,” Will said. “I was fuming and was too furious to really pay attention to what she was saying. After a few minutes, I said, ‘With all due respect, ma'am, you can go jump off a bridge.' ”

Will was sent to the office, where he was given an assignment to look up information about the flag and what it represents. Meanwhile, the principal called his mother.

“She said we have to talk about Will, because he told a sub to jump off a bridge,” Laura Phillips said. “My first response was: Why? He's not just going to say this because he doesn't want to do his math work.”

Eventually, Phillips said, the principal told her that the altercation was over Will's refusal to stand for the pledge of allegiance, and admitted that it was Will's right not to stand. Given that, Laura Phillips asked the principal when they could expect an apology from the teacher. “She said, ‘Well I don't think that's necessary at this point,' ” Phillips said.

After Phillips put a post on the instant-blogging site twitter.com about the incident, several of her friends got angry and alerted the news media. Meanwhile, Will Phillips still refuses to stand during the pledge of allegiance. Though many of his friends at school have told him they support his decision, those who don't have been unkind, and louder.

“They [the kids who don't support him] are much more crazy, and out of control and vocal about it than supporters are.”

Given that his protest is over the rights of gays and lesbians, the taunts have taken a predictable bent. “In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they've been making comments and doing pranks, and calling me gay,” he said. “It's always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad.”

Even so, Will said that he can't foresee anything in the near future that will make him stand for the pledge. To help him deal with the peer pressure, his parents have printed off posts in his support on blogs and websites. “We've told him that people here might not support you, but we've shown him there are people all over that support you,” Phillips said. “It's really frustrating to him that people are being so immature.”

At the end of our interview, I ask young Will a question that might be a civics test nightmare for your average 10-year-old. Will's answer, though, is good enough — simple enough, true enough — to give me a little rush of goose pimples. What does being an American mean?

“Freedom of speech,” Will says, without even stopping to think. “The freedom to disagree. That's what I think pretty much being an American represents.”

Somewhere, Thomas Jefferson smiles.

http://www.arktimes.com/articles/art...0-3823aa79c021

discuss about the boy.

me personally, hes only 10, and on the news, he made the news anchor look like a total idiot

.

Sparks Kincade · 11-21-2009, 07:29 AM

Glad to see the youth standing up for something, even if the rest of his class doesn't.

Homophobia and Bigotry need to be combated as often as possible

Str1der · 11-21-2009, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparks Kincade

Glad to see the youth standing up for something, even if the rest of his class doesn't.

Homophobia and Bigotry need to be combated as often as possible

I'm not going to throw my personal beliefs in to this, mainly due to the fact that this site is predominately a cluster of many siding with one intellectual voice. What I do want to do though, is play Devil's Advocate:

Why? Just like it is that boys right not to stand for the Pledge of Alliegance, is it also not the right of others to disagree with homosexuality? Why must they conform their beliefs when others are not willing to do the same? He answered correclty, in that America is a nation with freedom of speech. We have the right to disagree with things we don't believe in, just as we have the right to vocalize our stance on the matter. If we're going to advocate that right, shouldn't it be extended to every person?

Just some food for thought.

darknight55 · 11-21-2009, 07:48 AM

So... what has the 1st part of him being smart got to do with anything in the rest of the article? I am confused.

Norrin Radd · 11-21-2009, 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Str1der

I'm not going to throw my personal beliefs in to this, mainly due to the fact that this site is predominately a cluster of many siding with one intellectual voice. What I do want to do though, is play Devil's Advocate:

Why? Just like it is that boys right not to stand for the Pledge of Alliegance, is it also not the right of others to disagree with homosexuality? Why must they conform their beliefs when others are not willing to do the same? He answered correclty, in that America is a nation with freedom of speech. We have the right to disagree with things we don't believe in, just as we have the right to vocalize our stance on the matter. If we're going to advocate that right, shouldn't it be extended to every person?

Just some food for thought.

Disagreeing with homosexuality isn't the issue.

Banning something such as gay marriage and gay adoption is what's wrong. Dislike those things all you want, but to oppress someone because they choose to have sexual intercourse with other males is abominable.

IronyTaken · 11-21-2009, 08:02 AM

You have a right to voice your opinion but that doesn't mean your opinions should be made law and enforced over other people's rights.

You do not have the right to NOT be offended.

Sparks Kincade · 11-21-2009, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Str1der

Just some food for thought.

Man, I wish those slaves never raised a fuss about wanting to be treated like people.

Marriage in the United States is not just a religious union. We give tax breaks to married couples, spouses have visitation rights in Hospitals, the list goes on.

There are still parts of this country where being openly gay in public at night can get you beaten or killed.

You can disagree with Homosexuality all you want, but you shouldn't be able to stop them from living life like a human being.

IronyTaken · 11-21-2009, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norrin Radd

Disagreeing with homosexuality isn't the issue.

Banning something such as gay marriage and gay adoption is what's wrong. Dislike those things all you want, but to oppress someone because they choose to have sexual intercourse with other males is abominable.

Yah I never understood why they ban gays from marriage. Marriage was originally a contract between two households. Marriage had very little to nothing to do with religion back then (2500 BC).

Also marriage between same sex was common and was practised up until the Council of Nicaea.

So there was a time when marriage between the same sex was allowed.

Fatigue · 11-21-2009, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparks Kincade

Man, I wish those slaves never raised a fuss about wanting to be treated like people.

Marriage in the Untied States is not just a religious union. We give tax breaks to married couples, spouses have visitation rights in Hospitals, the list goes on.

There are still parts of this country where being openly gay in public at night can get you beaten or killed.

You can disagree with Homosexuality all you want, but you shouldn't be able to stop them from living life like a human being.

That made me laugh.

brutzer · 11-21-2009, 10:28 AM

kid got more balls than most of the adults.

Man like him get silenced in this world.

JFK

11-21-2009, 07:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
Sparks Kincade ChimaeraOne's Cookie Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Currently Mobile Posts: 1,321 Reputation: 28	Glad to see the youth standing up for something, even if the rest of his class doesn't. Homophobia and Bigotry need to be combated as often as possible __________________

11-21-2009, 07:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
darknight55 Loric's Lunatic Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,685 Reputation: 51	So... what has the 1st part of him being smart got to do with anything in the rest of the article? I am confused. __________________

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11-21-2009, 08:02 AM	#6 (permalink)
IronyTaken Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 8,146 Reputation: 292	You have a right to voice your opinion but that doesn't mean your opinions should be made law and enforced over other people's rights. You do not have the right to NOT be offended.

11-21-2009, 10:28 AM	#10 (permalink)
brutzer Banned Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 600 Reputation: 28	kid got more balls than most of the adults. Man like him get silenced in this world. JFK