Phil Donahue speaks about Jehovah's Witnesses
Since the saluting of the flag is associated with patriotism, many people become emotionally upset when they hear of anyone declining to salute it. Even though the majority have a different viewpoint, should they not grant this minority the freedom to refrain from doing something that is against their religious conscience? Would not respect for the religious conscience of a minority be showing appreciation for the freedoms represented by the flag?
The 1943 case of West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, when the late Justice Robert Jackson delivered an opinion in which he eloquently declared:
“‘If there is any fixed star in our Constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.’”
