In ? we Trust - or - One Nation Under Dog

"I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all." - The original Pledge of Allegiance, 1892

Statement:
We need to get back to the Christian ideals that this country was founded upon.

That statement, or a variation of it, is used countless times by the fundamentalist Christian right in this country. It's become a catch all cure of sorts for everything they consider wrong with society today. Abortion, the Gay Rights movement, the secularization of our public schools, and if you ask Oklahoma state senator Sally Kern, the economic state of this country. Quite possibly the most offensive example of this attitude occurred on the September 13th, 2001 episode of the Christian television show, The 700 Club. Pat Robertson, Founder of CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) and the Christian Coalition, interviewing Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, where both men agreed that the attacks on 9/11 might have been allowed by god due to moral decay in this country.

It's a sentiment that annoys me like nothing else. I hear it repeatedly from christian friends, read it in research, see it on TV and in the newspapers spewed by conservatives religious and political alike. A prime example of Christian dogma and revisionist history. While I will concede that the majority of this country is of the Christian faith, that simple majority should, in no way, dictate the kind of change and blatant disregard for the Constitution that that has been allowed to happen. Again the arrogance of the western judeo-christian faith rears it's ugly head. It seems too many of them fall prey to that old axiom that if you repeat a lie enough times, people are bound to begin to believe it.

FACT: Nowhere in the Constitution are the words God, Jesus, Christ, Christian or Bible found. Not even in the Amendments.

Don't you think if the intention was to establish this country as a "Christian" nation that one or two of those might have been thrown in there? This was intentional. If you define Christianity as one who believes in the divine works of Jesus Christ, then one could say that some of the more prominent founding fathers were not Christians at all. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were outspoken Deists, believing in a "supreme being" who doesn't concern itself with the daily lives of humans or communicate with humans in any way. Nor did they believe in any of the supernatural events (miracles or revelations) described in the Bible and lived without a need for faith or organized religion. George Washington and James Madison were also Deists, though both went out of their way to avoid religion in most matters. Thomas Paine was also described as a Deist, though became much more of an atheist in his later years. John Adams was a liberal Unitarian, though in much of his writings seems to share many of the themes of Deism. Jefferson even went as far as re-writing the Gospels without any of Jesus' superpowers called "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth". He was once quoted as saying "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." Unfortunately, that has not yet come to pass.

FACT; The 1797 U.S.A. treaty with Tripoli George Washington writes that the United States was "in no sense founded on the Christian religion". This treaty was presented to and ratified unanimously by the US Senate and signed under the presidency of John Adams.

FACT: The Constitution of the United States declares that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." (Article 6, section 3) ensuring that no single religion could make the claim of being the official, national religion, such as England had.

FACT: The Very amendment to the Constitution that allows us all freedom of speech addresses this as well. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. Thus preventing there from being government sponsored religious practices or activities. The Basis for the principles of Separation of Church and State. In his letter to the Danbury (Conn.) Baptists Association shortly after his election, Thomas Jefferson reiterates "Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."

FACT: Our Nation was founded in 1776 but "In God We Trust" doesn't appear on U.S. coins until 1908, and paper money not until 1957 in an act of religious and political propaganda to counter the threat of those godless communists. Thank you Joseph McCarthy . The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 and was just fine "God" free until 62 years later in 1954, when ‘under God’ was added at the behest of the Knights of Columbus (A Catholic fraternal organization) who felt it wasn't right that it was left without reference to a deity like other countries in Europe.

FACT: Supreme Court Decision Engel vs. Vitale (1962) found that Any kind of prayer, in public school districts, even nondenominational prayer, is unconstitutional government sponsorship of religion on the basis of the First Amendment.

When reviewing all that, remind me again why Christians still believe their repeated rhetoric? I understand that they contend that their faith is based on the "one true god". Don't you Christian's understand that we are both atheists, I just happen to believe in one less god than you do? Your arrogance and sense of entitlement aside, does it mean anything to you that the fact remains that that this country was based in a spirit of freedom from religious oppression with guidelines meant to strictly maintain those boundaries, while still allowing you the right to believe and worship any god you chose in any way you chose so long as those boundaries are respected? Obviously not or we still wouldn't have to worry about fighting the attempts at public displays of prayer in schools. Read Matthew 6:5-6. In it Jesus states “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say ... Read Moreto you, they have their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you”. Obviously not or my children wouldn't have to say the phrase "under God" every morning in school. Obviously not or I wouldn't have to see the phrase "In God We Trust" on ever piece of money I touch. In a sense, we agree on one thing...that this country needs to return to the basic fundamentals on which it was formed. Only problem is that my desire is based in historical fact, backed by the Constitution of these United States of America. While yours is based in the same fairy tale make believe land inhabited by your god.