This news item really pisses me off!
A California Republican congressman wants to do a little writing on the
walls of Washington's newest federal building. If Rep. Dan Lungren gets
his way, Congress will spend nearly $100,000 to engrave the words "In
God We Trust" and the Pledge of Allegiance in prominent spots at the
Capitol Visitor Center. [...]
Lungren said that the phrase "In God We Trust" had a long history
and was consistent with the beliefs of America's founding fathers. He
also said that the Declaration of Independence referred to rights given
by a creator..."What we're doing is making
a specific historical reference to the beginnings of this republic," he
said. "To ignore this or to forbid this statement or something like it
to appear is to distort history. . . . We're not trying to change
history. We're trying to enshrine history in the Capitol Visitor
Center."
Lungren cleverly omits the fact that "In God We Trust" didn't become our national motto until 1956! Some history.
Okay, if we're enshrining "history" in the Visitor's Center regardless of who it offends then let's also engrave an encapsulation of Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution:
Black African slaves are to be considered 3/5 of a person.
At the very least, if the courts find that "In God We Trust" is historical, not religious, then it's important that the preamble to Article 11 of the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli be engraved just below it in the same size type:
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion...
Fortunately, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is suing to prevent "In God We Trust" from being added to the Visitor's Center.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation Inc. sued this
week to stop the engraving, accusing Lungren of trying to force his
religious beliefs on as many as 15 percent of all U.S. adults. That
comprises "atheists, agnostics, skeptics and freethinkers, none of whom
possess a belief in a god," according to the lawsuit.
"It
really is a Judeo-Christian endorsement by our government, and so
Lungren is wrong," said Dan Barker of Madison, Wis., a co-president of
the foundation. "Lungren and others are pro-religious, and they want to
actually use the machinery of government to promote their particular
private religious views. That is unconstitutional, and that's what
we're asking the court to decide."
Please consider contributing to the Freedom From Religion Foundation to help them fund this important lawsuit. I think this even has a chance of being successful.
--Trakker
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