National Motto

 

When I was born and until I was ten years old, our national motto was E Pluribus Unum, from the Latin meaning Out of Many, One. The motto acknowledged that we were a nation formed of many individual states. It recognized our diverse population of different people, cultures, traditions, and perspectives. It was adopted by Congress in 1782 and had been featured in the 1776 design of the Great Seal of the United States.

In July of 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law the adoption of a new motto, In God We Trust. This was a popular decision and current polls indicate that it still is. There is, however, a group that believes that the inclusion of God in government violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by endorsing a religious viewpoint. There have been legal challenges, but the courts have upheld the mention of God indicating that it does not promote any religion. These decisions also ignore those atheists and agnostics as this would seem to exclude them from the national identity. The declaration of God in the motto also undermines the secular nature of our government which was to be neutral about religion.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence were of many faiths, there were a few Deists and at least two of indeterminant leanings. Some have argued that the inclusion of God in the motto and in our Pledge of Allegiance, through historical repetition, have watered down the religious implications and have made the phrase more secular. They use the term ceremonial deism but this ignores the exclusion of those for whom such forced acknowledgement violates their beliefs.

Without taking sides in this debate, it could be pointed out that some of the impetus for the change in the motto and the inclusion of In God We Trust on our money, came from a Pennsylvania pastor who petitioned the Treasury to include it on our money. His reasoning was that it would “relieve us from heathenism” and show all that God was on the side of the Union in the Civil War. This was also the feeling of the Confederacy who believed that their cause was just and approved by God. The same phrase was on many Confederate documents and graphic renderings.

This was near the beginning of the slippery slope of confusing religion and politics. While it avoids the establishment of a national religion, it is regularly referenced by extremists as the very foundation for their position of national righteousness. You may declare in argument that the motto is secular, but this does not explain why it is still used to strengthen religious political positions.

I would agree with those who say that the political references to God have lost significance. For that I give you Donald J. Trump. Some on the religious right have elevated the man to the position of messiah while totally ignoring his declared lifestyle.

While many former presidents had their mistresses and peccadillos, this one has raised whoremongering to an artform. His lust for power and fame at the expense of others, his treatment of immigrants, and his disdain for the afflicted would seem to be the antithesis of Christian beliefs. If these supporters have truly asked themselves, “What would Jesus do” and then came to the conclusion that it would be exactly whatever Trump would also do, I think that we can rightly conclude, none of this has anything to do with religion.