Remove God from anything Government related

Originally posted by malakajoe
Thoughts? Arguements?

Originally posted by Armed & Hammered
You won't get many disagreements on GFY. I agree 100%. Unfortunately, I'll bet we are still about 25 years away from anything like that becoming a reality.

Originally posted by xenophobic
If the constitution was meant to be interpreted like you are doing, why are there references to God inside it?

The freedom of religion, was to protect the citizens from tyranny inflicted upon the population in the name of religion by the Government, to avoid the problems like the slaughter/imprisonment of those who would not give up the Catholic faith in England - to be converted to the Church of England.

I don't think it ever meant removing the word God, from anything.

Originally posted by malakajoe
Then you are interpreting more vaguely than I am. I read freedom of religion, just like I read freedom of speech. I take it literally.

You are adding upon it...maybe based on facts, but still adding wording to it that is not their.

So are you saying I do not have the right to not believing in God or a religion?

Originally posted by xenophobic
I hope you do not take the freedom of speech literally, because there are long documented cases of what you can, and can't say in the United States.

I do not see the part that says that their will be no mention of religion in the United States by the Government, only that there will be no passing of laws in reference to establishing religion, or stopping the practice of it, am I missing something?

Originally posted by xenophobic
I hope you do not take the freedom of speech literally, because there are long documented cases of what you can, and can't say in the United States.

I do not see the part that says that their will be no mention of religion in the United States by the Government, only that there will be no passing of laws in reference to establishing religion, or stopping the practice of it, am I missing something?

Originally posted by malakajoe
So you are saying that their should not be In God We Trust on our money? Or under God in our pledge? Because that is establishing religion, isn't it? That is saying that God watches over this country and pushes the message of God.

Originally posted by WarChild
The Constitution guarantees you no such seperation of Church and State. If you actually read the US Constitution, you'll find the words "Seperation of church and state" do not appear in any place.

The original national motto: "E Pluribus Unum"

The original motto of the United States was secular. "E Pluribus Unum" is Latin for "One from many" or "One from many parts." It refers to the welding of a single federal state from a group of individual political units -- originally colonies and now states.

The replacement motto: "In God We Trust:"

Almost a century and a half ago, 11 Protestant denominations mounted a campaign to add references to God to the U.S. Constitution and other federal documents. Rev. M.R. Watkinson of Ridleyville PA was the first of many to write a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase in 1861 to promote this concept. 2 Watkinson suggested the words "God, Liberty, Law." 3 In 1863, Chase asked the Director of the Mint, James Pollock to prepare suitable wording for a motto to be used on Union coins used during the Civil War. Pollock suggested "Our Trust Is In God," "Our God And Our Country," "God And Our Country," and "God Our Trust." Chase picked to have "In God We Trust" used on some of the coins. The phrase was a subtle reminder that the Union was on the side of God regarding slavery. Congress passed legislation. Since a 1837 Act of Congress specified the mottos and devices that were to be placed on U.S. coins, it was necessary to pass another Act to enable the motto to be added. This was done on 1886-APR-22. "The motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent coin since 1909, and on the ten-cent coin since 1916. It also has appeared on all gold coins and silver dollar coins, half-dollar coins, and quarter-dollar coins struck since" 1908-JUL-1. 3

Decades later, Theodore Roosevelt disapproved of the motto. In a letter to William Boldly on 1907-NOV-11, he wrote: "My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege...It is a motto which it is indeed well to have inscribed on our great national monuments, in our temples of justice, in our legislative halls, and in building such as those at West Point and Annapolis -- in short, wherever it will tend to arouse and inspire a lofty emotion in those who look thereon. But it seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements."

In 1956, the nation was suffering through the height of the cold war, and the McCarthy communist witch hunt. Partly in reaction to these factors, the 84th Congress passed a joint resolution to replace the existing motto with "In God we Trust." The president signed the resolution into law on 1956-JUL-30. The change was partly motivated by a desire to differentiate between communism, which promotes Atheism, and Western capitalistic democracies, which were at least nominally Christian. The phrase "Atheistic Communists" has been repeated so many times that the public has linked Atheism with communism; the two are often considered synonymous. Many consider Atheism as unpatriotic and "un-American" as is communism. The new motto was first used on paper money in 1957, when it was added to the one-dollar silver certificate. By 1966, "In God we Trust" was added to all paper money, from $1 to $100 denominations.

Most communists, worldwide, are Atheists. But, in North America, the reverse is not true; most Atheists are non-communists. Although there are many Atheistic and Humanistic legislators at the federal and state levels, few if any are willing to reveal their beliefs, because of the immense prejudice against Atheism.

During the 1950's the federal government's references to God multiplied:

The phrase "under God" was added to the otherwise secular Pledge of Allegiance.

"So help me God" was added as a suffix to the oaths of office for federal justices and judges.

American paper currency since 1957 has included the motto "In God We Trust." 4 The Freedom from Religion Foundation has been unable to find any other country in the world which has a religious motto on their money.

Originally posted by CamChicks
A mistake was made 50 years ago, and it must be corrected.

Originally posted by malakajoe
I know I will get many disagreements here (and agreements). But this is how I feel and why I feel the way I do. I will leave this short and let others respond.

I say remove anything with the word God from anything government related. Be it money, pledge of alligence, government building, etc...

We all have the right to Freedom of Religion in America. That means we can believe in any religion (religions without "God") or believe in no religion.

Pray in school? Anyone should be able to pray in school. But it should be at their own time and will. Meaning you can not interupt class to do it on your own or it cannot be mandated by the teacher, school, or government. So forcing pray in school would be unconstitutional.

Having God in our Pledge of Alligence. Unconstitutional. Again, the government cannot dictate any religion upon anyone.

Having In God We Trust on our money. Not talked about often, but unconstitutional. This is again the government pushing religion upon citizens.

National Day of Pray. By the former President (related to our current president) stating "by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2, 2002, as a National Day of Prayer", this makes it unconstitutional. Anyone or any relgious organization can declare their own day of Pray or anything religious. But a government official cannot get involved and declare a religious day.

Thoughts? Arguements?

Originally posted by malakajoe
So you are saying that their should not be In God We Trust on our money? Or under God in our pledge? Because that is establishing religion, isn't it? That is saying that God watches over this country and pushes the message of God.

Originally posted by RocHard


I have no problem with my children saying the pledge of alligence. I did when I was a child. Perhaps it will make them believe that there is a higher power, be it what it may.

Originally posted by RocHard

I have no problem with it being on the money I spend.

Originally posted by RocHard

And I see no reason why we can't have a minute of prayer in our school. For those who want to pray, they can pray. For those who don't, perhaps they can spend a moment to reflect on their day and what that day will bring to them.
Peace.

Originally posted by Oedipus
Americans should rise up and get rid of all government and religion. Live free or die.

Originally posted by Paul Waters
Why is it, that all first world nations, save one, are moving away from religious mythology?

Why does the US hang on to mythology?

Your fundies are as scary as the muslim fundies.

You nation was defined by liberal secularists: Jefferson, Franklin... and you had a close alliance with the birth nation of liberalism: France. A secular nation.

What went wrong?

Originally posted by Lane
Boobmaster I thought you left.

By the way, secularism definitely doesn't mean 'rejecting God'.

Originally posted by MisterSark
I fully agree. It should be split.

Originally posted by Goatse
Totally agree. It's like those gay groups who want the governmment to recognize gay marriage. Why? Marriage is essentially a religious ceremony. Not only should the government NOT recognize gay marriage, it should also not recognize straight marriage either.

Originally posted by malakajoe
I know I will get many disagreements here (and agreements). But this is how I feel and why I feel the way I do. I will leave this short and let others respond.

I say remove anything with the word God from anything government related. Be it money, pledge of alligence, government building, etc...

We all have the right to Freedom of Religion in America. That means we can believe in any religion (religions without "God") or believe in no religion.

Pray in school? Anyone should be able to pray in school. But it should be at their own time and will. Meaning you can not interupt class to do it on your own or it cannot be mandated by the teacher, school, or government. So forcing pray in school would be unconstitutional.

Having God in our Pledge of Alligence. Unconstitutional. Again, the government cannot dictate any religion upon anyone.

Having In God We Trust on our money. Not talked about often, but unconstitutional. This is again the government pushing religion upon citizens.

National Day of Pray. By the former President (related to our current president) stating "by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2, 2002, as a National Day of Prayer", this makes it unconstitutional. Anyone or any relgious organization can declare their own day of Pray or anything religious. But a government official cannot get involved and declare a religious day.

Thoughts? Arguements?