A short History of the separation of church and state
The first use of the phrase "Under God" appears in 1864 during the Civil War. Many people believed the war was God's punishment of the United States not formally acknowledging god. The Secretary of the Treasury was persuaded to put the phrase on the 2 cent coin.
In the late 1800's politicians tried to pass a resolution which would add the phrases "Under Almighty" and or "Under God" to the constitution. It was deemed unconstitutional, as credited to the First Amendment. Eventually the phase "In God We Trust" would make its way onto more coins and even dollar bills.
During the beginning of the Cold War in 1954 the U.S. added the clause "one nation under god" to the pledge of allegiance. In 1956 congress voted to replace the old national motto "E pluribus unum" or "of one many" with the new motto "In God We Trust." The reasoning behind both of these additions was simple: Communist thought was secular, as Karl Marx stated that religion was "The opiate of the masses." The phrase "In God We Trust" was placed on all U.S. Currency as a statement against communism. The statement was simple: Americans are not godless. The statement was also unconstitutional.
The First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Our founding fathers openly (even legally) made it known the America was to be free. We have the freedom to choose and practice any religion; we have the freedom to choose not to have a religion. Atheists, Agnostics, Pagans, Hindus, Wiccans, Buddhists, and many others are forced to be part of a nation "under god."
Would these same people be in favor of living in one nation without god? One nation under Buddha? how about One nation under Allah? of course not. Although the name Allah is very much interchangeable with god in Muslim countries, most of us would feel lost being in a nation under Allah. So why do they allow their fellow Americans to be under a god they do not worship?
Little progress has been made in reclaiming our nation’s separation of church. Cases which prohibit religion in schools are the only ones which have made even a tad bit of progress. Numerous cases supporting the separation of church and state have been lost. Here's the verdict on some of the cases:
Ronow vs. the United States - 1970
"It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency 'In God We Trust' has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise."
O'Hair vs. Blumenthal (Secretary of Treasury) -1979
"From this it is easy to deduce that the Court concluded that the primary purpose of the slogan was secular; it served as secular ceremonial purpose in the obviously secular function of providing a medium of exchange. As such it is equally clear that the use of the motto on the currency or otherwise does not have a primary effect of advancing religion."
In 1994 by the freedom from religion society filled suit with a national study that found an overwhelming amount of Americans found the phrase "In God We Trust" to be religious and why wouldn't they? The Lawsuit was dismissed with this statement:
"...we find that a reasonable observer, aware of the purpose, context, and history of the phrase 'In God we trust,' would not consider its use or its reproduction on U.S. currency to be an endorsement of religion."
A 2002 Bill was passed which reaffirmed the 1954 act which placed “under god” In the pledge of allegiance. The bill passed 99-0 in Senate.
Can someone please tell me what non-religious deity is being referred to here? Can anyone explain how a reference to God is not religious?? Even the origin of the phrase is very clearly religious. It is meant to say that we are a religious nation with a god. One nation with freedom of religion -meaning a religious nation with a god???
Regardless of your faith you cannot argue that God is a religious term and refers very clearly to religion. If our Government was not supposed to be separate from our religion then this would make sense. The United States is in fact around 80% religious. However this does not change our constitution or what out nation was founded on.
Our forefathers were very very adamant on keeping American law separate from religion. William Tell once said "Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” In fact many American colonists left for America in hopes of finding religious freedom.
To make things even stranger there are bible verses such as Exodus 20:7, Deuteronomy 5:11, and Leviticus 19:12 which forbid the "trivial use" of God's name. Not only are there non-Christians who wish to rid our nation of these flaws, there are also people of faith who support the first amendment.
Our nation is becoming a Theocracy. Religious fundamentalism breeds fear and hate while religious intolerance can only lead to differences. Our position as a Christian nation feeds the thoughts of religious fanatics of another sort. Not only is it ripping apart the civil rights of U.S. Citizens, but our incorporation of religion into American law is feeding the same monster that has brought terrorism to our country.
So now what? Last year congress passed a Resolution 847. This resolution had a lot of talk about Christmas and basically puts in writing that America is a Christian Nation. Resolution 888 goes even further to recognize the role of Christians in the history of America. The problem here is that this information is taken from many sources and placed out of context. Unfortunately much of the information is probably true America has a long history with Christianity. Most of the Country is Christian, but this does not change our legal system. Of course the bill takes things a step further then stating that America has a history with Christianity by trying to completely denounce our first amendment. Here’s a nice quote:
(2) recognizes that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation's most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America's representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures;
If you are a true American and believe in what this Country was founded on then please go to http://action.secular.org/t/5367/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22206 and help fight Resolution 888.
Sources/More info:
Resolution 888
Quotes from our forefathers
http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_mott.htm
http://everything2.com/index.pl
http://www.agnosticuniverse.org/blog/index.php?itemid=142&catid=9
In the late 1800's politicians tried to pass a resolution which would add the phrases "Under Almighty" and or "Under God" to the constitution. It was deemed unconstitutional, as credited to the First Amendment. Eventually the phase "In God We Trust" would make its way onto more coins and even dollar bills.
During the beginning of the Cold War in 1954 the U.S. added the clause "one nation under god" to the pledge of allegiance. In 1956 congress voted to replace the old national motto "E pluribus unum" or "of one many" with the new motto "In God We Trust." The reasoning behind both of these additions was simple: Communist thought was secular, as Karl Marx stated that religion was "The opiate of the masses." The phrase "In God We Trust" was placed on all U.S. Currency as a statement against communism. The statement was simple: Americans are not godless. The statement was also unconstitutional.
The First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Our founding fathers openly (even legally) made it known the America was to be free. We have the freedom to choose and practice any religion; we have the freedom to choose not to have a religion. Atheists, Agnostics, Pagans, Hindus, Wiccans, Buddhists, and many others are forced to be part of a nation "under god."
Would these same people be in favor of living in one nation without god? One nation under Buddha? how about One nation under Allah? of course not. Although the name Allah is very much interchangeable with god in Muslim countries, most of us would feel lost being in a nation under Allah. So why do they allow their fellow Americans to be under a god they do not worship?
Little progress has been made in reclaiming our nation’s separation of church. Cases which prohibit religion in schools are the only ones which have made even a tad bit of progress. Numerous cases supporting the separation of church and state have been lost. Here's the verdict on some of the cases:
Ronow vs. the United States - 1970
"It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency 'In God We Trust' has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise."
O'Hair vs. Blumenthal (Secretary of Treasury) -1979
"From this it is easy to deduce that the Court concluded that the primary purpose of the slogan was secular; it served as secular ceremonial purpose in the obviously secular function of providing a medium of exchange. As such it is equally clear that the use of the motto on the currency or otherwise does not have a primary effect of advancing religion."
In 1994 by the freedom from religion society filled suit with a national study that found an overwhelming amount of Americans found the phrase "In God We Trust" to be religious and why wouldn't they? The Lawsuit was dismissed with this statement:
"...we find that a reasonable observer, aware of the purpose, context, and history of the phrase 'In God we trust,' would not consider its use or its reproduction on U.S. currency to be an endorsement of religion."
A 2002 Bill was passed which reaffirmed the 1954 act which placed “under god” In the pledge of allegiance. The bill passed 99-0 in Senate.
Can someone please tell me what non-religious deity is being referred to here? Can anyone explain how a reference to God is not religious?? Even the origin of the phrase is very clearly religious. It is meant to say that we are a religious nation with a god. One nation with freedom of religion -meaning a religious nation with a god???
Regardless of your faith you cannot argue that God is a religious term and refers very clearly to religion. If our Government was not supposed to be separate from our religion then this would make sense. The United States is in fact around 80% religious. However this does not change our constitution or what out nation was founded on.
Our forefathers were very very adamant on keeping American law separate from religion. William Tell once said "Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” In fact many American colonists left for America in hopes of finding religious freedom.
To make things even stranger there are bible verses such as Exodus 20:7, Deuteronomy 5:11, and Leviticus 19:12 which forbid the "trivial use" of God's name. Not only are there non-Christians who wish to rid our nation of these flaws, there are also people of faith who support the first amendment.
Our nation is becoming a Theocracy. Religious fundamentalism breeds fear and hate while religious intolerance can only lead to differences. Our position as a Christian nation feeds the thoughts of religious fanatics of another sort. Not only is it ripping apart the civil rights of U.S. Citizens, but our incorporation of religion into American law is feeding the same monster that has brought terrorism to our country.
So now what? Last year congress passed a Resolution 847. This resolution had a lot of talk about Christmas and basically puts in writing that America is a Christian Nation. Resolution 888 goes even further to recognize the role of Christians in the history of America. The problem here is that this information is taken from many sources and placed out of context. Unfortunately much of the information is probably true America has a long history with Christianity. Most of the Country is Christian, but this does not change our legal system. Of course the bill takes things a step further then stating that America has a history with Christianity by trying to completely denounce our first amendment. Here’s a nice quote:
(2) recognizes that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation's most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America's representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures;
If you are a true American and believe in what this Country was founded on then please go to http://action.secular.org/t/5367/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=22206 and help fight Resolution 888.
Click to viewSources/More info:
Resolution 888
Quotes from our forefathers
http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_mott.htm
http://everything2.com/index.pl
http://www.agnosticuniverse.org/blog/index.php?itemid=142&catid=9