I attended a Toastmasters speech contest last night at the Estacada library, representing the Gresham Toastmasters. (I placed 2nd in the humorous speech competition). The most interesting part of the meeting, however, occurred before it even began, when Toastmasters Area 52 official Dick Moser suggested to meeting moderator Mike Goss that there should be no Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting, because it might offend someone who wasn't from this country. Goss, a Staff Sergeant in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War, rejected Moser's suggestion by stating there would definitely, absolutely be a Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting.
Needless to say, the Pledge of Allegiance did take place. It's a traditional part of any Toastmasters meeting. I don't know where Mr. Moser got the idea to toss the Pledge. With all due respect to Mr. Moser, his suggestion to quash the Pledge was offensive.
No comments:
Post a Comment