[Repost of a response to another gods on or money/in our pledge/etc. posts. This is my standard response to all such posts.] 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. First Amendment of the Constitution; note that these are not rank ordered, but considered equally important restrictions on the governments power. ...the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion... Treaty of Tripoli as ratified by Congress, November 4, 1796. 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. Thomas Jefferson, 1802 ...[the use of the word God by the government] 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... In fact, such secular uses of the motto [In God We Trust] was viewed as sacrilegious and irreverent by President Theodore Roosevelt... [T]he motto has no theological or ritualistic impact. Aronow v. United States, 1970 Under which god? Feisal Abdul Rauf, a Muslim imam writes that the phrase “In God we trust” resonates with Islamic teaching, offering two verses from the Qur’an: Our Lord, we have indeed heard a Crier calling to faith, saying Trust in your Lord, so we have trusted... (Quran 3:193) or [The messenger and the believers] trust in God, in His Angels, His Scriptures, His Books and His Messengers... (Quran 2:285)... Similarly, Melkote Ramaswamy, an Hindu American scholar, writes that the presence of the phrase “In God we trust” on American currency is a reminder that “there is God everywhere, whether we are conscious or not.” Wikipedia (as an example of how other religions claim the governmental god) Im fine with keeping the empty mention of God by the government, as long as people know that it isnt any one god theyre talking about, or it wouldnt be Constitutional.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 00:26:40 +0000
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