About this One Dollar piece
that lacks the phrase In God We Trust...
In a recent post I had my little Church and State rant, but I don’t mind touching on it again. Particularly in a case like this that is not so black and white. You could say that I have mixed feelings on the matter, but I’d categorize it as one of my "line item" evaluations of a not so simple issue.
Here’s the thing. The lack of separation of church and state is the principal cause of most of the conflict in the world, throughout history and to this day. Period. I am a very strong advocate of the enforcement of our constitutional separation of church and state. Yet, I am more passionate about the importance of not blaming God for religion. People make religions. Not God. That is why so many religions cause so many problems in the world.
So, I am neither offended by the idea of removing that phrase from our money, nor am I bothered by In God We Trust continuing to be printed on our money. I am truly indifferent to it, and think that anyone who is deeply invested in this issue on one side or the other is just being silly.
Currency is currency. It serves a practical purpose and is no more or less valid or valuable with or without a phrase about God printed on it. On the other hand, in terms of the concept of attaching any particular religion (church) to the state, the word God is actually ambiguous. All religions have a God or some Gods or some kind of deity that can in some way be legitimately referred to as their “God”. Hence, the use of the word God does not endorse one religion (church) or another; therefore it does not violate separation of church and state. So until they try to print In Jesus We Trust on American currency, this is a non-issue. In the mean time, I’d suggest diverting your energy to something that matters.
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2 comments:
You're neglecting the fact that it places belief above non-belief, and so discriminates. But you wouldn't understand why anyone who doesn't believe in any god would be invested in that? Oh no, being mad that you're treated like you aren't a citizen is just silly.
Thanks for the comment, Anonymous. It’s a good point you make. You know, that could actually be an entirely different discussion. You say that it puts belief above disbelief, but I question the assumption that you are the “disbeliever” in this case. It seems to me that one must have an illogically high level of belief in unfathomable odds to have enough faith in coincidence to believe that countless molecular level events that must take place in precision order and balance to create and sustain life, simply happened without the guidance of some higher power beyond our understanding.
When you think about it, what you consider to be your disbelief is actually a much bigger leap of faith than holding belief that there is something out there — whether or not you can stomach attaching the “G” word to it.
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