A number of governments in the United States have had religious mottoes. The motto of the state of Ohio, for example, is 'With God All Things Are Possible.' The National Motto is itself religious: 'In God We Trust.' Should governments be allowed to adopt theological declarations as secular mottoes? The problem with religious mottoes is that they given an official stamp of approval and even endorsement to religious ideas or beliefs. This sends the message that people who hold those beliefs are insiders, favored, and privileged while those who don't are diminished in the eyes of the state.
It's true that adopting a motto and putting it on money is a legitimate legislative activity, but that can't possibly mean that any chosen motto is completely legitimate. What if Congress chose "In Jesus We Trust" for the national motto and put it on the money? Would that be a secular national motto? Would that be a legitimate legislative activity? If not, why not -- and why don't the same arguments work when it comes to "In God We Trust"?
Anti-religious and anti-theistic mottoes would never be accepted. If a government agency put up a sign saying "In No God We Trust," we all know that the Christian Right would start crying about the separation of church and state and argue that the government can't legitimately send a message that is hostile to their beliefs. They'd be right, too -- but the same argument exists against mottoes like "In God We Trust."
I thought the U.S. national motto was “E Pluribus Unum”.
It was, until it was replaced by IGWT in 1956.
I remember the 1950s well. I graduated from a Catholic High School in 1957. But, because, at that time, I was still a deluded “Catholic” Christian (and no true Scotsman?
) I didn’t pay too much attention to the ridiculous ‘god-based’ and, IMO, rather sneaky additions to the Pledge and money; obviously passed because of the intense anti-Communist fervor of the time.
I’ve commented elsewhere on the utterly stupid Pledge tampering. Aside from the rather dumb idea, in the first place, of having young children pledging to ANY flag…what, indeed, was wrong with the original Pledge wording:
“One Nation…indivisible…with liberty and justice for all!’…?
Even the nuns that I ‘had’ in grammar school, never complained about that.
I have one (highly cherished!) $20 bill from 1935; which has no lame “god trust” on it. And why trust ANY god who never did diddly squat for either man or beast on this, approximately, 4.5 billion year old speck in the Milky Way Galaxy?
Here’s, I think, an interesting suggestion…(just a SUGGESTION, mind you
)…about using…
“a red pen or stamp to “de-God” all of your paper money. It’s fun. It’s easy.”…
http://www.lava.net/~hcssc/godlessmoney.html
Zama, zama…
I want to know who the 290 odd (so far) ignoramuses are that said ‘it’s okay’!
Marc -
Me too. It is doubtful to me that anyone without a belief in a god (which I would think would be the vast majority of readers of this site) would endorse any reference to “God” by the government. There must a covert group of fundies that ‘load the ballot box’ every time a question of this type is offered. I’ve seen it almost every time.
All slogans are the bane of civilization
Ask those people who said “It’s okay” what they would think of an atheist slogan on a license plate. If there’s “nothing wrong with acknowledging religion”, there should be nothing wrong with acknowledging other points of view.
ChuckA suggested using a rubber stamp to cancel out the religious motto with a secular one. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years. I bought a stamp at an atheist convention: “Stop religious advertising on money.” I always try to stamp fresh bills so that they stay in circulation longer. Unfortunately, banks routinely pull marked or defaced bills from circulation and turn them in to the Federal Government for new money. I’ve also occasionally used a small air grinder to remove “In God We Trust” from quarters.
“I’ve also occasionally used a small air grinder to remove “In God We Trust” from quarters.”
Wow, that’s dedication to the cause.