Would You Sign This Pledge To Keep Your Job?

This story about a CSU East Bay math teacher who was fired for modifying the State of California loyalty oath now has a happy ending. According to the Los Angeles Times, all state, city, county, public school, community college and public university employees are required to sign the pledge as a condition of employment. Non-citizens are exempted.

The loyalty oath is found in Article XX, Section 3 of the California Constitution:

"I, ______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support
and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Consti-
tution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign
and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the
Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the
State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without
any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will
well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about
to enter.
"And I do further swear (or affirm) that I do not advocate, nor
am I a member of any party or organization, political or other-
wise, that now advocates the overthrow of the Government of the
United States or of the State of California by force or violence
or other unlawful means; that within the five years immediately
preceding the taking of this oath (or affirmation) I have not
been a member of any party or organization, political or other-
wise, that advocated the overthrow of the Government of the
United States or of the State of California by force or violence
or other unlawful means except as follows:
________________________________________________________________

(If no affiliations, write in the words "No Exceptions")
and that during such time as I hold the office of ______________

________________________________ I will not advocate nor become
(name of office)
a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise,
that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United
States or of the State of California by force or violence or
other unlawful means."

Marianne Kearney-Brown, a pacifist Quaker, took the oath seriously and inserted "nonviolently," crossed out "swear," and circled "affirm" in the version of the oath presented to her. Her employer was not amused and fired Kearney-Brown on February 28th. Her case became a cause celebre among the progressive blogosphere and yesterday's Times revealed that Attorney General Jerry Brown's office had been contacted and had produced a legal opinion that "signing the oath does not carry with it any obligation or requirement that public employees bear arms or otherwise engage in violence. This has been confirmed by both the United States Supreme Court . . . and the California attorney general's office."

With that document stapled to her copy of the oath, Kearney-Brown signed it, and was reinstated.

My point in re-telling all this is would you sign the following oath if your job depended on it? And, why when we have a California Legislature that can pass bills in favor of same-sex marriage and universal health care would we not have one that has put a repeal of this section of the California constitution on the ballot?