On the 50th anniversary of our national motto, "In God We Trust," we reflect on these words that guide millions of Americans, recognize the blessings of the Creator, and offer our thanks for His great gift of liberty.
From its earliest days, the United States has been a nation of faith. During the War of 1812, as the morning light revealed that the battle-torn American flag still flew above Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key penned, "And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust!'" His poem became our National Anthem, reminding generations of Americans to "Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation."
On July 30, 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the law officially establishing "In God We Trust" as our national motto. Today, our country stands strong as a beacon of religious freedom. Our citizens, whatever their faith or background, worship freely and millions answer the universal call to love their neighbor and serve a cause greater than self.
As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of our national motto and remember with thanksgiving God's mercies throughout our history, we recognize a divine plan that stands above all human plans and continue to seek His will.
-President Bush
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11 comments:
It is way beyond understanding how anybody can find that phrase offensive!
The president calls this a country of religious freedom, and then goes on to assume that there is only one god, and it has a male form.
So if I were a polytheist or one who worshipped a female deity, I would feel most uncomfortable in this nation of "religious freedom."
Who should Native Americans, who worship several gods, react to these comments? I sincerely doubt they "continue to seek His will," considering they do not believe in "him."
sorry, the first word of the third paragraph of the previous post should read "How"
Ron...I have no clue either.
Southpaw...it is exactly because we are a nation of religious freedom that these other people can worship freely as they please.
The President proclaiming our history as a Christian nation does nothing to stop them from worshiping as they please. The Constitution guarentees you the right to worship freely. It says nothing about a right to not feel uncomfortable when someone discusses the history of our great nation.
Let's see them go to Iran or Saudi Arabia or Egypt or any other of Islamic nation and try to worship a god other than Allah and see how much freedom they have there.
The United States was founded as a Christian nation and as hard as the libs try to erase that from the history books, it is still a fact.
yes it is a fact, one which I do note dispute. But religious freedom does not mean that there is one religion of the state and others are free to worship as they please. It means there is no religion of the state. The President does not seem to understand this.
Don't change the subject by brining theocratic governments like Egypt and Saudi Arabia into this. Simply because they are more oppressive, that does not lead to the conclusion that the current leadership in the U.S. is justified in promoting one religion over another, without repricussion for those who choose to follow another.
South paw, where did you get your definition of Religious Freedm?
The United states Constitution.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."
from Wikipedia (not always the best source, I grant you):
(The First Amendment) has been interpreted as the prohibition of 1) the establishment of a national religion by Congress and 2) the preference of one religion over another or of religion over non-religious philosophies in general. The first approach is called the "separationist" or "no aid" interpretation.
i.e., Christianity is not ESTABLISHED as the state religion, despite the fact that it was founded on Christian principles.
Ok, so what's the problem then? The President isn't saying that Christianity is the religion enforced by our government, mandated or does he seek congress to make it so. There is a freedom for all the worship as they please, a legal freedom, laws are not in place to make American's be Christians. I still don't get your arqument. Are you saying the President can't state his belief or desire for our country as far as religion goes becuase he is the president?
In actuality “In God we Trust” has been used as a motto for much more than 50 years. I began appearing on US coins, for example during the Civil War….
The "The leftist southpaw" makes an accurate point, though it would be foolish to contend that acknowledging "God" is inherently Christian, anymore than it is Islamic, Jewish, and so on....
Southpaw...you are right in that Christianity is not the established religion of the country b/c it isn't a religion.
What the constitution prevents is what they had in England. If you weren't part of the Anglican Church you had no rights whatsoever. It would be like if a law was passed that if you weren't Catholic you couldn't own property or vote.
The President making those statements reflecting our history, in no way infringes on anyone's rights. Unless you try to use the typical made-up liberal right of the right not to be offended.
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