Setting aside the case against "under God" below, why is the government involved in the speech business anyway? Why should the government be urging, encouraging, coercing or mandating any sort of speech whatsoever?

When my daughter was in high school, she was on an Odyssey of the Mind team that had to go to the student council for funding to make a trip to the national finals. When the council stood to say the pledge, she declined. It didn't have anything to do with "under God." She was just mad at the government at the time and wasn't in the mood to pledge allegiance. Like her father, she is naturally disinclined to say things she can't say with sincerity and an open heart, which may be one reason we both tend to keep our mouths shut.

Anyway, the outraged student council voted against giving her team any money. Fortunately, the adviser stepped in and advised the student government that it might be provoking a First Amendment battle it didn't really want to have. But how can anyone say that kids aren't coerced into saying the pledge? And why would the government of a free country want to do that?