Lee Helm's speech to the Rochester Hills City Council
There are many good reasons why the saying "In
God We Trust" should
not be posted in government offices or public schools. First and foremost,
it divides
the community into those who accept the saying's monotheistic premise and those
who do not.
It says to those who are polytheists, like Hindus and pagans, or non-theists,
like
Atheists and other secular citizens, that disagreement with monotheistic belief
makes them
second class citizens, unwelcome in public places unless they are willing to
endure
conducting their business under an offensive, official statement endorsing
monotheism.
Incidentally, a recent American Religious Identification Survey conducted by
the Graduate Center of the City University of New York found that 14% of
Americans, thats about 38 million
nationwide and over a million in Michigan, are Atheist, agnostic or otherwise
secular.
Those who advocate posting "In God We Trust"
often complain that the
majority must be allowed to have its way. Fortunately, we do not live in a
mob-rule
democracy, where the largest mob does as it damn well pleases and everybody else
had better
get out of their way. Fortunately, we live in a CONSTITUTIONAL democracy.
The United
States Constitution sets limits on what a majority can do, thus preventing a
majority from trampling the rights of the individual -- in this case, the
individuals
right of freedom from the other guys religion.
Those who advocate posting "In God We Trust"
often claim that that
saying has historical significance, but the saying's history is the history of
Christian activists' effort to brand the United States with the name
"Christian Nation."
During the 1860s the protestant National Reform
Association formally
petitioned Congress to amend the Constitution's preamble to read: "We, the
people of
the United States, HUMBLY ACKNOWLEDGING ALMIGHTY GOD AS THE SOURCE OF ALL
AUTHORITY AND POWER IN CIVIL GOVERNMENT, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
AS THE RULER AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS REVEALED WILL AS THE
SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND, IN ORDER TO CONSTITUTE A CHRISTIAN
GOVERNMENT, AND in order to form a more perfect union..." This
amendment
was rejected, but the Association did attract many prominent men of the time,
including the Director of the Mint, James Pollock. Also during Pollock's
tenure at the
mint, the Reverend Mark Richards Watkinson, a Baptist, wrote to Treasury
Secretary
Salmon P. Chase urging "...the recognition of the Almighty God in some form
on our
coins. You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were now
shattered beyond
recognition? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly
reason from our
past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the
Goddess of
Liberty we shall have..." and goes on to describe his proposed changes.
Within a week,
Secretary Chase wrote to Director of the Mint Pollock directing him to devise
"a motto
expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national
recognition." In December
of 1863, Pollock submitted his designs to Chase, and Chase responded with a
letter
saying "I approve of your mottoes, only suggesting that on... (the side)
with the
shield it should be changed so as to read, 'In God We Trust.'" In
April of 1864 Congress
amended an 1857 coinage act to read, in part, "...and the shapes, mottoes,
and devices of
said coins shall be fixed by the Director of the Mint, with the approval of the
Secretary of
the Treasury...", thus giving Pollock and Chase free rein to place their
motto on United
States coinage without Congressional oversight, public notice or open debate.
The motto
made its way to our paper money during the McCarthy era, with the passage of
H.R. 619 in
June of 1955. This historical information regarding the origin of "In
God We
Trust" can be found, with full texts and references, at www.atheists.org/public.square/coins.html.
The "In God We Trust" motto was devised by
Christians to promote
Christianity. If that motto is put up in government buildings and public
schools, I should
hope that lawsuits will be filed to have it taken down, or to at least make the
display area into a public forum where other messages may also be posted, given
equal space and
equal protection from vandalism.