History lesson, you need.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Why do I need a history lesson?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Puritans vs. Roman Catholicism and the freedom to seek and speak directly to God as you choose instead of going through the corrupt papacy- You know, the reason why the original colonists settled here in the first place. God, Gold, and Glory.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I don't think that's necessarily a reason for the references of God to be on the money and the pledge. The reason why colonists settled here might have had religious motives, but our country was not founded on religion. Having God on the money and in the pledge is in violation of Separation of Church and State because the U.S isn't allowed to favor any religions and must remain secular. Since not everyone in America believes in God, it is unfair to have those phrases on the national pledge and money. It's not exactly a huge deal for me, I just was curious of what other people thought regarding this issue.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The origins of this country were very extremely religious, as is evident in the Declaraition of Independence and every state in the union began their charters/constitutions acknowledging God in the very first sentence. God-fearing Christians founded a country that exercises freedom of religion. Just because there are people who don't follow that (or any) faith in this country, doesn't mean the country should change the foundation on which it was built. The only nationaly recognized religion that has had laws enacted that restrict the exercises of their faith is Christianity. Christians are not allowed to pray in school and are discouraged from doing so in public while everyone has the freedom to curse god's name or slander him in various medias. Non-believers should not feel oppressed or wronged- it's a coin and it spends the same wether God is printed on it or not.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

While it is true that the Declaration of Independence acknowledges God, the Constitution does not mention God at all. The first amendment, which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", is where the idea of Separation of Church and State comes from. Many of the founding fathers believed in the idea of Separation of Church and State because they didn't want religion to be imposed on the citizens of the United States. Separation of Church and State means you can still practice any religion freely, but the U.S government cannot favor religion. The Pledge and money are part of the U.S, therefore it's best if they are kept secular. The are no laws that specifically prohibit the exercises of Christianity. Christians are still allowed to pray in school, they're just not allowed to force anyone else to partake in prayer. There are no laws that say you cannot pray in public to yourself, and if someone tries to discourage you from doing that, then that's rude of that person. You still have the same rights as any other religion.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Exactly what she said- she just beat me to it. I will however go further, and quote Wikipedia: The phrase appears to have originated in "The Star-Spangled Banner", written during the War of 1812. The fourth stanza includes the phrase, "And this be our motto: 'In God is our Trust.'"

by Anonymous 11 years ago

YOU need a history lesson. The phrase "under god" in the pledge was added in In 1954 by President Eisenhower. The daughter of the writer rejected this alteration.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

http://www.treasury.gov/about/education/Pages/in-god-we-trust.aspx Pretty much the entire history and reasoning/cause of "In God We Trust" being put on our coins and money, and in our pledge of allegiance.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

America was heavily founded on religion. The founding fathers were very spiritual people and so was most of our country for a long time. It's only recently that so many people are anti-religion. People always say 'separation of church and state' and it's true that we shouldn't be living in some sort of theocracy, but America is a religious country nevertheless. God bless the USA

by Anonymous 11 years ago

America was not founded on religion. That's a common misconception.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yes it was. It was founded on religious principles.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

It was founded on religious freedom, not religion itself. For example, the Treaty of Tripoli states, "the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion" When the founding fathers wrote the constitution, they did not establish the country with any specific religion. Instead, they founded the country on religious freedm so anyone can practice any religion they want.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I've got to agree with OP on this one. The US wasn't established on Christianity, but rather religious freedom. And, to me, yes, that can also mean the freedom to not have any religion at all. I think some people just jump too quickly at "BLRGH! Atheists want to destroy religion and have everything their way! BLRGH!" argument (not necessarily here, but in general). There are plenty of religions that believe in many gods or even no gods at all. Honestly, as someone who doesn't even believe in a higher power, this whole topic doesn't really bother me. I just think that the whole "under God" and "in God we trust" thing can get kinda annoying. It's hypocritical. We don't have an official religion, but we teach all of our children to pledge allegiance to God every morning in school. Don't get me wrong, if nothing were to change, I would hardly even notice, but that's because it's been ingrained in all of us by this point. I care about this, and think someone should step up and change it, but I'm pretty sure no one would be up in arms if that never happened. The scary hypothetical is the outrage that would follow if God //was// taken out. But, alas, that's another topic for another day.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

IMO, we're not forcing you to believe in God, it's more of a phrase, and a tie to our founding, not as a religious settlement, but the references to the Star Spangled Banner and such. It's not hurting anyone, let it be. It's not like it's oppressing anyone, so taking it out of those places isn't for any reason other than you just don't like the idea of religion, so it shouldn't be anywhere. Let sleeping dogs lie. Now if it infringed upon people's wellbeing, and you can show this, by all means go ahead. But you already have the right to not say the pledge of allegience, or the words in it, etc.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I completely agree. It not that high on my list of concerns Maybe it should be.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

no it shouldn't. When was the last time you thought about the pledge, hell i haven't said it since elementary school. I hear the national anthem about a million times more often not the national anthem is played. Secondly the pledge is just as much a historical icon as the deceleration of Independence and we don't go around redacting that. Secondly, when was the last time you read a dollar bill or a coin and felt oppressed by what it said. Its a coin if it offends you toss it in a well and get even. I'm all for the separation of church and state, but not for stupid semantics and petty complaining.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

No reason to not have it on the money (it affects no one), but there's this whole history of it, so that stays. As for the pledge, it might feel weird for someone of a different religion to say it, knowing it refers to the Christian God, but there is also a whole history behind that. Having these references has no REAL impact on anything, so there's no reason for them to rewrite their pledge.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Ben Franklin Thomas Jefferson and John Adams all claimed to believe in god yet none of the specified whether or not it was the Christian yet. Therefore our founding fathers did not build a country on religion but on religious principles!

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Dude, no one said YOU had to say that "under God" part in the pledge.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

My school forced me to say the whole thing when I was younger. The teachers would watch and you'd get in school suspension for not following. (Oh yeah this was the 90's when I was in elementary school) I just hated not having a choice

by Anonymous 11 years ago

That's too extreme. I'm sorry.

by Anonymous 11 years ago