Posted
on April 22, 2014
This
is “In God We Trust” Day because it was on this date in 1864 that
an act passed Congress authorizing that the phrase be used on a
particular U.S. coin.
Did
you realize that, for almost the entire first century of the existence
of the United States, “In God We Trust” had never been seen on official U.S. seals, letterheads, or money?
And
it wasn't until 1956—180 years after the beginning of the
nation—that “In God We Trust” became the official motto.
Given
that the nation was founded on the idea that there should be no
official state religion—and that there should be a separation
between religion and government—how did this obvious religious
reference come to be adopted as the government's official motto?
A bit of history...
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Before
“In God We Trust,” there was E
pluribus unum.
This Latin phrase means “Out of many, one,” an obvious reference
to the fact that 13 different colonies had banded together to
create one nation. This phrase appears on a banner in the eagle's
beak on the Seal of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1782,
and the phrase functioned as the new nation's motto for many years.
However,
there never was a law specifically adopting the phrase as the
official motto.
Actually,
it's a pretty lovely phrase. These days, it calls to mind the idea of
the U.S. as a “melting pot”: out of many peoples, races,
religions, languages, and ancestries, one nation of Americans.
E
pluribus unum
appeared on U.S. coins starting in 1795 (it appeared even earlier on state coins).
The competing phrase “In God We Trust” was first suggested at a time when E
pluribus unum
was failing to describe the country: the nation was being torn in half
by a bloody Civil War.
During
such a scary time—a time when many wondered if the nation would
even survive—many people turned to prayers, appeals to their god (or gods) to
right the wrong, end the violence, fix what was broken. The
Secretary of Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, received multiple letters
asking that he ask Congress to put something about “the Almighty
God” on the nation's coins, and he ended up doing so.
The
phrase “In God We Trust” was used on some coins, starting in 1864, not on others,
and disappeared from coins on which it had been previously used for
decades; in other words, the phrase appeared on coins only spottily.
However, all U.S. coins struck since 1938 have featured the phrase.
Is
it constitutional?
People
who don't believe in a god, and probably people who believe in multiple gods – a group that includes about 10 to 12
percent of Americans, including most Buddhists, many other religious
and spiritual minorities, agnostics, and atheists – are excluded by
this motto. Some people point out that they feel left out of the “we”
part of the motto—and feeling left out is not a good feeling. Of
course, it's ridiculous to have the motto “In God Some of Us Trust”
– but at least that would be accurate!
Because
the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids the government
either supporting or hindering religion, this motto, whether on coins
or elsewhere, really is unconstitutional. Some have argued that the
word “god” and the concept of trusting god is not particularly
religious; court cases people have brought against the motto have failed, at least in some cases, because the judges ruled that the word “god” doesn't actually
refer to a particular character. It does not, they say, refer to the
God-of-the-Bible. It's more as if the word “god” stands in for
concepts such as a “higher power,” perhaps the Force of Star
Wars.
If that is true, it seems that even the majority of Americans – Americans who
are Christian and who believe in God – are left out of the motto...because most of them would not say that
they trust a mysterious, nameless universal Force.
Basically,
the motto leaves out millions upon millions of Americans – or it
taints the concept of trusting in God by saying that the phrase
doesn't really mean “God.” Either way, it's not constitutional. It should be replaced with the
original phrase, E
pluribus unum,
which was chosen by our founding fathers and which is as descriptive
as the nation now as it was then.
Also
on this date:
Earth Day (and another post about Earth Day)
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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