Ms. Renk certainly has the right to her opinions and to state those opinions. (“More respect needed,” Letter to the Editor, July 3) That is one of the basic civil rights on which this country was founded She has the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance and stand for the flag. Some religious groups don’t say the pledge because of their religious beliefs and that is their right too. But in the U.S. people also have the right to not say the pledge or stand for the flag as a protest against unfair treatment as they see it. They choose to show their protest publicly rather than to “...disappear from the field...” because not being there doesn’t speak their protest, it just speaks their absence. We are seeing today what can happen when we accept the limitation of these rights. Finally, this country was not founded “as one nation under God.” The “under God” part of the pledge wasn’t added until the Red Scare of the 1950s. God is not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence nor in the Constitution. The “Laws of Nature and of Natures God” is mentioned in the preamble of the Declaration and the Creator is mentioned in the first paragraph. The final paragraph says “... with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence” These passages could be interpreted many ways so which God were they talking about? Christ, Buddha, the many gods of Hinduism? I hope Ms. Renk enjoyed her Fourth of July holiday as I did. We are both thankful that we live in a country where we can say what we think and, as of now anyway, not fear for our well being.

Steve Caporiccio Magnolia