I always thought America was founded on Freedom of religion.....not.....freedom from religion....
Should the motto "In God We Trust" be removed from U.S. currency?
- Thread starter ironsides
- Start date
what i dont get is the US is abolishing all these christian things, but at the same time throwing out the idea of a jewish heritage month and in december the giant menorah that gets put on the white house lawn..... Sounds like the old switch a roo
Your ancestors could have resided in Istanbul and Timbuktu until last Tuesday,
but if you're a Canadian citizen now (& Eagle, I know you're not:lol
and thus a taxpayer, it doesn't matter if your hands are clean or not. That's irrelevant. 8O
A recent immigrant from anywhere on the planet to Canada shoulders the same
responsibility and tax load based upon their income.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The first part is definitely freedom from religion.
If I should remove 'In God we trust' from the US dollars I so professionally print off in my basement on Sunday mornings they probably wouldn't be accepted.
That doesn’t prove anything, Johnnny, they also put up a Christmas tree on the White House lawn. In fact they televise the ceremony.
No, I wouldn't say so. The U.S. constitution doesn't really separate the church and state, it essentially just says there will be no official state religion and everybody is free to practice whatever faith they like, without interference from the state. Thus there can be no state-sanctioned "Church of the United States" with status comparable to the "Church of England" in the U.K., and the state cannot be seen as sponsoring a particular religious view. The courts have interpreted the so-called "establishment clause" in the constitution as also meaning the state in the form of the public education system can't promote a particular religious establishment either, but certainly plenty of private schools do, without interference from the state. All it really means is that no church can be given any legal secular authority backed by the coercive power of the state, but anyone who thinks the U.S. government and religion are really separate just isn't paying attention.
This Michael Newdor character obviously doesn't have enough to do. "In God We Trust" has been the United States' official motto since 1956, though it's appeared on currency for a lot longer than that. Considering the uproar and backlash from the religious right that removing it would cause, I see nothing to be gained by it, and a great deal to lose for any politician who supported it. Given the level of religious belief in the United States--the highest by far of any of the Western democracies--I think the issue's a non-starter politically, and legal challenges don't look likely to do much better.