idontbelieve

America is a secular country: "Congress shall make no law restricting religion..." This provision stands for more then the promise of freedom to practice whatever religion you follow; It provides for free thought, speech, and opinion, and it ensures the secularity of America (secular meaning not favoring any particular religion, no national religion, etc.). But why is it that "GOD" is plastered all over the currency, the pledge of allegiance, and even our own president's actions? "In God we trust," "One nation, under God." In spending our money, we acknowledge our faith in God. When we pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, we firmly proclaim that in fact a God does exist, and we are overseen by Him.

The only initial reason that I can find for still having such ties to god in our government is the religion of our founding fathers, and the religions of our past and present presidents(all protestant, with the exception of JFK who was Catholic. Correct me if i'm wrong on that.) These morals and beliefs were reflected in the Declaration, the Constitution, and the actions of our leaders, further perpetuating the state i'm speaking of. But then you just have to ask: Where is the christian love in our dealing with the indians? Obviously, there are inconsistencies, and the answer is more complex then just those religions. If you have any ideas or explanations, please respond. All opinions are appreciated.

sullster

I think the answer to your question can be found with the attitudes and visions of the earliest settlers on the North American British colonies. America was seen as an Old Testament-like Promised Land or an Isreal. The Puritans who settled New England were out to create a "city upon the hill", a new and pure society, free from the sins of Europe. God for them was clearly on their side and blessed their new world.

The enlightenment-influenced founders of the U.S.A, clearly wanted a secular government but they were deistic and carried within them the idea of American exceptionalism with god's approval. The founding fathers were not born-again fundies like the Xtian Right likes to say, but neither were they athiests, a possible exception is Thomas Jefferson.

The"god is on our side" stuff was behind "Manifest Destiny". It was manifestly obvious that god wanted America to expand to the west. It was just obvious to Americans of the 19th century. The Indians? Well, how could they thwart god's manifest will? The heathen savages! Besides, when has any christian nation not done whatever it wanted to do, no matter how bloody?

The US Civil War was very much devoted to fighting for what god wanted. The North was using god's "terrible swift sword" to save the nation blessed by the Puritan god. The South also had god on their side. They figured that they were fighting for the original America that was being ruined by the evil Yankees.

The USA was doing god's work in WW1 by "saving the world for democracy". Woodrow Wilson was almost messianic in his view of America saving the world. God was with the USA.

It is an amazing twist that the nation which codified the separation of church and state, has had such a GOd obsession, but I feel that history bears this out. From John Winthrop to now George W, there has been an American ,God with us, state of mind.

Toto

"God" is in the pledge because of the anti-communist scare in the 1950's, when communists were vilified as "godless". You can read the history of that on <a href="http://www.randomfilm.com/pledge" target="_blank">the Pledge Site.</a>

When the God-language is challenged, the courts tend to wave away any church-state separation problems by saying that "God" can refer to the God of your choice or the God of Deism, so it is not endorsing a particular religion. They make references to "ceremonial Deism", meaning that no body takes it seriously.

When someone tries to take away the god-symbolism, Christian voters get upset, so the politicians who run this country sometimes decide that they need to pick their fights, and put up with a little hypocritical god talk in order to stay in office to promote environmental values, or whatever their primary cause is. It's a hard choice.

[ January 26, 2002: Message edited by: Toto ]</p>