In God Many Of Us Trust

Sure, it sounds innocuous enough. A plaque, funded entirely from donations, is placed at the Hawthorne, California city hall to commemorate the 50th anniversary of our nation's motto. How could anyone object?

Our national motto, though adopted only 50 years ago, has been printed on various U.S. coins since 1866. This motto is inscribed prominently on the dais of the U.S. House of Representatives. A simple resolution and a plaque sounds like a great way to commemorate an event of historical significance. It's a no brainer, right?

That motto, which you'll find now on every U.S. coin in your pocket, every bill in your wallet, is "In God We Trust." Those five words are so ubiquitous, they could hardly offend. To no surprise, the city council of Hawthorne, home of The Beach Boys, passed the resolution unanimously.

Examine the history of the motto may give one pause. Take 2006 and subtract 50 years and you can guess what was going on when Congress and Eisenhower decided to make "In God We Trust" the national motto. In the midst of the McCarthy communist witch hunt, atheism was equated with communism. That was the same decade "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance and "so help me God" was tacked onto oaths of office.

Our original motto, E Pluribus Unum, is still on the Great Seal of the United States. That motto communicates unity--Out of many, one--and was chosen by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Remember that next time you hear a justification of the encroachment of religion in government with the claim that our forefathers would want it that way. Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn are not our nation's forefathers.

No, our forefathers did not put "In God We Trust" on our coins. The idea resulted from a request from Baptist minister Mark R. Watkinson, who in 1861 wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury to suggest that a religious motto be put on coins to "relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism." From the beginning, the motto had a clear religious meaning and purpose. Are you concerned yet?

Certainly, the fine members of the Hawthorne City Council aren't part of a vast conspiracy to theocratize our nation. Or, are they? The American Family Association is behind a campaign to get "In God We Trust" posters in every school as "a reminder of the historical centrality of God in the life of our republic." Yes, the AFA. The same AFA that rails against gay rights and boycotts Target for greeting shoppers with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Now are you bothered?

Posters promoting religion in public schools is one thing, but how did this campaign jump to the Hawthorne City Council? For that, give credit to religious conservative Bakersfield Councilwoman, Jacquie Sullivan. It was Sullivan, founder of "In God We Trust America" who sent an e-mail to every city clerk in California about her goal to exhibit the motto in city buildings all over California. In the newspaper, The Record, she's said "God has always had an important place in our country. We are basically a country of believers, and this is something that's good for the future of our country."

Yes, basically a country of believers...except for those who aren't.

The idea for the motto originated during the Civil War with Baptist minister Mark R. Watkinson, who wrote to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase on Nov. 13, 1861, suggesting the religious motto. Watkinson argued that a religious phrase on coins would "relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism."

The motto has passed legal muster because it does not promote a particular religion. But it does promote religion. With federal funding for faith-based service providers, "intelligent design" lessons in biology classes and a thousand other examples of the promotion of religion in the public square, we've lost the notion that the First Amendment protects Americans right to not express a religion.

It's not just the fact that not everyone believes in God. A lot of people may believe in a divine force behind the universe without believing that we all should "trust" that force to guide our puny lives. If President Bush hadn't trusted that God was guiding him, maybe he wouldn't have been so cocksure about invading Iraq. If he trusted in reason, maybe he wouldn't have stalled progress on stem cell research. If our fearless leader trusted in science more than a belief that the end times are near, maybe he would take global warming seriously.

We atheists and agnostics are not a popular bunch. Never mind the Buddhists, Hindus and various others whose ideas of deity do not fit the Judeo-Christian mold. But we have one of our founding fathers on our side. James Madison championed the separation church and state and warned of the tyranny of the majority oppressing the rights of minorities. The father of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is with me on this. If Madison were sitting on the Hawthorne City Council, the Honorable Councilwoman Ginny Lambert's resolution would have had at least one quite eloquent dissenter.

"The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries."

And,

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."

Be bothered.