In God We Trust is the official motto of the United States and the U.S. state of Florida. The motto first appeared on a United States coin in 1864 during strong Christian sentiment emerging during the Civil War, but In God We Trust did not become the official U.S. national motto until after the passage of an Act of Congress in 1956. It is codified as federal law in the United States Code at 36 U.S. 302, which provides: "'In God we trust' is the national motto".

That hardly has ANYTHING to do with our founding Fathers.

I don't think anyone here thinks that President Obama is the second coming.

So, you're saying that's what's printed on money overrides what's written in the Constitution? Actually, Jay had the answer to that. And that would be a big ass "NO!"

You're right Wiz, everyone including the media is acting like Obama's the second coming. You pointed out alot of good stuff. I find it odd how even tho we have religious freedom here, the freedom of Christians is being slowly taken away. When it was announced that Obama won, Mike & I were in Walmart getting groceries & a bunch of folks started cheering. Funny how I'd never seen that over any other president. I think Obama seems like a nice guy & a good family man. But I don't agree with him on alot of things. So I like him as a human being but I just don't agree with him on stuff. I saw Jimmy Swaggart on tv the other day & I think he's changed for the better. Mike really loved him. In fact after Mike went on to heaven, I found in his portable cd player a cd of Jimmy Swaggart. He must've listened to it on the way to church, the Sun before he passed. Not all Christians are religious fruit cakes and there are some good evangelical preachers out there. There's good and bad in everything. I think the right wingers are more upset about how Obama's doing now than whether he won or not or if Bush was a failure or not.

It is?

Sorry Cliffite, I don't believe "during strong Christian sentiment emerging during the Civil War" is quite accurate. The South made the Civil War a holy war by placing the phrase “invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God” in the preamble of their constitution. There was a terrific effort to Christianize everybody involved on both sides and to label the slaughtered a great sacrifice in the eyes of GOD (a theme that persists to this day)! There are descriptions of war being like a revival-a direct work of God and of congregations chanting the war psalms. You see, the war was not decided by manufacturing superiority and Lincoln’s persistence, instead, it was decided by the invocation of God by the religious fruitcakes of the day. Of course when the end of the war left the country full of strung out cripples and unable to pay its debt’s and a lingering racist hatred that smolders even today, well so much starting over with a pristine slate cleansed in the blood of the slaughtered. Everybody knows about the religious fruitcakes of the fifties and invoking God to defeat the Russians…under God, with God on our side.

The way I read it (and having more in-depth conversations about this with Cliffite over the last 37 years), I think you both mean the same thing; yours is more detailed.

Also, he mentioned to me yesterday that Republican President Theodore Roosevelt had it taken off the money while he was in office.

It's there now because making it official in the 1950s was part of the movement that added "under god" to the Pledge of Allegiance--both were meant to harass and "smoke out" patriots like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie who didn't agree with the right-wingnuts (e.g. Joe McCarthy) of the time.

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You're right Wiz, everyone including the media is acting like Obama's the second coming.

Well, I will agree and try to explain.

When we moved from having the worst admin in my life and possibly history running the show...to having anyone other than that admin in power, the bar is not so high, if you know what I mean.

I see things going pretty well for the new admin, considering the pile of poo we found ourselves in.

I will go out on a limb and say the first 100 days went well.

So well that I predict that Obama is such a quick learner that he will be able to complete the next 100 days in just 72, setting a new record. Ha.

I just wanted to point out that the emerging sentiment had a questionable genesis at a time when religious fruitcakes were using war and death and fear and hatred to advance their political agendas!

Karl Marx's adage, "Religion is the opiate of the masses" has ironically found it's way into the toolbox of the republican's and other right-wing groups. "Religion" has always been about control and discouraging individuality; "Spirituality" is all about freedom, a well-used word by the right-wing, but a concept that they fear and loathe.......

"The United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation."
Treaty of Tripoli (1797), carried unanimously by the Senate and signed into law by John Adams (a founding father)

It is when a young girl can't even mention her faith in God in her high school valedictorian speech. I read recently of that happening to a young teen girl. When she can't say what she wants in her speech, that's taking away freedom of speech...

I can certainly understand why nobody wants to hear anyone talk about christ and god and all that crap at a High School speech. I mean all that "I owe it all to god crap ola" is just down right silly and quite offensive to some of us. Like having to sit through God Bless America at Baseball games, I can't wait for that crap to end. It makes me want to start blowing raspberries. Why should I have to listen to the crap, where are my rights. And public prayers, I just want to say shut the F'up....but no...I am accomodating...Seems like if she wants to moan on and on about god she can go find people that want to hear that crap!!! Why should every body be subjected to it. It is like second hand smoke, it just makes you ill! I for one am glad they told her to shut up and go to a church if she wants to blather on and on about that ridiculous religious crap!

What if that young girl had stood up there at a tax-funded graduation ceremony and said that she was a witch--that she owed all her accomplishments to Wicca, and asked everyone to join her in prayer to the Mother? Would that be OK with you?

No? Well, it's not OK with me, either. NO religion has a place in tax-funded events, organizations, etc. Not Wicca, not Churchianity (as my father-in-law used to call it)--NONE of them. That's why there are churches, mosques, temples, groves of trees. We have freedom of speech, the press and religion, but in some places and at some times they become mutually exclusive, and then priorities must be applied in order to save all of our freedoms.

PS, Jay and I had to sit through a Christian, though publicly funded, high-school graduation some years ago. A nephew was graduating and we just sucked it up for family's sake, but we were so offended and hurt that those people would openly trample on our Constitution, and teach their children that it was right to do so. Shame on them!

I suppose since Obama may have indeed replaced what may in fact have been the Anti-Christ, he may look like the second coming to some people.

I wouldn't be offended at all to sit thru a Christian thing at a graduation and it wouldn't bother me at all. I think the girls faith is a major part of her & if she can't share that at a graduation then, she's not being allowed to share herself or be herself. Oh well, those who oppressed her will find out on judgment day. (Revelation 20:15) I figure if someone doesn't like something they can ignore it. I do at stuff like that. If Mike were still here & could get online he would love sharing his faith. He was and still is an inspiration to me...