I wonder if the economy should crash (our money is now worth the same as Canadian money for cripes sake — Canadian!!!) will God rescue the dollar as a courtesy for putting His name on it? I mean shouldn’t we get something out of offending the atheists and non-theists and those who believe in multiple gods and those religious people who feel it’s sacrilege to put His name on our grubby, root-of-all-evil money? Perhaps Pat Condell is right that Jesus and God are myths and it doesn’t matter. Anyway, Happy Birthday, four words!
Fifty Years of “In God We Trust”
It’s been 50 years since “In God We Trust” first appeared on U.S. paper currency, and those four little words have proven to be the source of big debate in the courts.
Michael Newdow, the California atheist known for trying to strip “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to declare “In God We Trust” an unconstitutional mingling of church and state. In Indiana, the American Civil Liberties Union has gone to district court, arguing that it’s unfair for the state not to charge administrative fees for “In God We Trust” license plates when a plate advocating for the environment carries extra fees.
Why, decades after the words were made the nation’s official motto and printed on our dollar bills, do they still inspire ire?
“A great many Americans are angry … when the government promotes religion and a great many other Americans believe that this is not promoting religion — they’re just representing who we are as a nation,” said Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the Freedom Forum’s First Amendment Center.
Thanks Hop!
>>I’d also say, though I don’t believe I’ve used the term Xian
>>whack job, that such terms obviously deride the lunatic fringe
>>of the likes of Haggard and followers and are no reflection
>>on the majority of Christians.
And I would say that my comparison of evangelical, militant, Atheist zealots to Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin, and others who seek to “bring the word” to non-believers derides the lunatic fringe of Atheism; those who characterize anyone with spiritual beliefs as a “whack job”, a “lunatic” or a delusional fool.
>>and evangelical (there are no angels in atheism)
The roots of the term evangelical are only distantly related to “angels”. In the original Greek, it meant a reward for good news given to the messenger. Current usage applies “evangelist” to all sorts of irrationally exuberant types, from Jack LaLanne, to Ron Popiel, to the late Tammy Faye Bakker. No angels required.
>>That’s probably just because of your own personal bias.
No, it’s because of the anti-spiritual bias of some communities, including DU. Try posting something under a different name in a relevant thread here that says “I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior”. Then count the seconds before the Atheist Storm Troopers are all over you like stink on shit, belittling, berating, and ridiculing you. I hope you have a watch that will measure fractions of a second.
#78, Scott,
I think you are about as evangelical about your anti-evangelism as I am about antitheism.
I’m going to defend Mustard somewhat on this one. Too often he has been the sole torchbearer for the “religious” side. So yes, he takes much more personal attack than do others. I don’t think his religious posts are all that extreme with the possible exception of insisting atheism is a religion.
I don’t agree with his POV, but I don’t feel threatened or offended by it either.
And I’m hoping he’ll maybe give me $5 for writing this.
>>And I’m hoping he’ll maybe give me $5 for writing this.
The check is in the mail, Nuclear One.
#71 – #70. what Chicago pizza do you evangelize for?
I evangelize for Chicago Style pizza made in Chicago by Chicagoans… It’s more a cultural thing than a brand thing…
#73 – Those that feel threatened and angered by in God we trust on money must not have much of a life and may even be insecure about their beliefs and theirselves.
The offending slogan wasn’t always on the money… so how threatened and angered were the people who fought to put it there?
Your cut rate armchair psychoanalysis of those who have a different belief than you is just a bullshit attempt to discredit opposition without having a valid argument.
#79 – And you gotta admit that a lot of your Atheist bretheren are marked by militant or crusading zeal, if nothing else.
Not really… I never talk about God except for here where it is on topic, or when shouting down some Xian fucktard who I catch trying to break the Darwin Fish off my car…
And I might be wrong, I don’t know, but I don’t think Darwin actually was an atheist…
This is something that should have been removed when the Cold War ended. It was placed on our money and inserted into the Pledge to help combat the Communist threat. Since that is not going to happen, we should recognize every religious entity – where’s the equal time for different religious groups? Give every group their own coin or bill and even have one with nothing. We could probably stretch the Pledge out to 20 or 25 minutes with the additional wording. No, I’m not kidding – it should be all or nothing. Can you see phrase ‘Allah is Great’ hidden on the new $5 bill?
>>or when shouting down some Xian fucktard who I catch trying to
>>break the Darwin Fish off my car…
That happen a lot to ya, OFTLO?
>>I evangelize for Chicago Style pizza made in Chicago by
>>Chicagoans… It’s more a cultural thing than a brand thing…
Heh heh heh. In other words, “I don’t know”. I lived in Chicago for quite a while, and there’s a lot of shitty pizza made in Chicago by Chicagoans. If you knew anything about it, you’d name a spot. You sound like one of those “Xian fucktards” you’re always railing on about.
>>The offending slogan wasn’t always on the money…
Hey, it’s the official motto of the United States of America, in case you didn’t know. If you don’t like it, write to your congressman.
#82 – Mr. Fusion,
I agree with you completely about his religious side. If you’ll re-read your own paste of my post, you’ll see that I was not speaking about his religious views. He is very definitely not trying to sell religion here. However, he is quite adamant in his anti-evangelism of both atheism and religion.
#84 – OFTLO,
I’m not sure about Darwin himself. His wife was deeply religious and he was always concerned about her opinion of his work. He worried that she would think he was destined for Hell. I’ve not heard much one way or the other about his own religious beliefs or lack thereof.
#84 – OFTLO,
According to wikipedia, which I still consider fairly reliable despite the whole wikiality thing, Darwin ended life as an agnostic.
http://tinyurl.com/2d4gcz
If your an athiest, catholic, baptist. It doesnt matter. The fact of the matter is this nation was founded by people who wanted religious freedom. That is why they started the reveloution. That is historical fact. Like it or not, the belief in God is part of this nations heritage. And if it offends you….. to bad. We have rewritten enough things already to please the whining liberals.
#81 – No, it’s because of the anti-spiritual bias of some communities, including DU.
I am not anti-spiritual… Personally, I am spiritual. I am also an atheist, and I am anti-dogmatic and anti-church (except for Bhuddist Temples or Unitarian churches
)
I don’t agree with you at all… There is NO anti-spiritual sentiment on this site that I can see, and if there is it is in the form of the aberrant post from the occasional sociopath.
Those who you seem to think are anti-spiritual are simply defenders of a culture under attack by fanatic theists, be they Christian, Muslim, or whatever.
What exactly do we trust god to do?
We trust him to stay completely out of our business and never show his face or leave any evidence of his existence, his identity, or his wish to communicate.
And so far, he’s never let us down
>>Personally, I am spiritual.
That’s a tough one to swallow, m’hijito. You and your Xian-bashing.
>>I don’t agree with you at all.. There is NO anti-spiritual
>>sentiment on this site that I can see
Ah, there are none so blind as those who will not see. If you’ve missed all the slanderous references to Xian fucktards, delusional psychopaths, and the like, you are truly in denial.
UU churches are fine, for those who like Religion-Lite, and Buddhist temples are fine for westerners who want to pretend that they are cosmopolitan world travellers when they’re not. However, there’s much more to spirituality (as I guess you know, being a “spiritual” person in spite of your hatred for most things spiritual), and most of it doesn’t involve tearing Darwin symbols off of cars, handling snakes, or fighting over meaningless slogans on coins.
Personally, I am in favor of removing “In God We Trust” from the money AND retiring it as a national motto. It serves no purpose, any more than putting up the 10 Commandments in a courtroom is going to convert felons and murderers. Waste of time and energy. There are more important issues to be dealt with in today’s society, and very few of them can be solved by sticking a McDonald’s-like “I’m lovin’ it” cliché up in public view.
#86 – Heh heh heh. In other words, “I don’t know”. I lived in Chicago for quite a while, and there’s a lot of shitty pizza made in Chicago by Chicagoans. If you knew anything about it, you’d name a spot. You sound like one of those “Xian fucktards” you’re always railing on about.
My Pi on Clark north of Fullerton and J.B. Albertos in Rodgers Park. Specific enough for you?
I’m not always railing about Xian fucktards, but I’m also done explaining to you who the Xian fucktards are and that you aren’t one of them. If you want to keep taking it personally, that’s on you.
By the way, this jackass Wizard in #89 is one of the Xian fucktards I’m talking about, and I’ll stand by that even if he writes back to claim he’s not a Christian at all…
#92 – Being religious and being spiritual are two different things.
Now I know you are on the side of your manic swing that makes you moody and disagreeable, but those “Christians” who are waging war on education, art, media, and society are Xian fucktards.
The fact that I correctly identify and defend against against these asshats does not mean I can’t be both spiritual and atheist. Spiritual does not require a myth or a supernatural entity. It only requires a profound respect and reverence for _X_. Whatever X is for the particular spiritual person.
#92 – There are more important issues to be dealt with in today’s society, and very few of them can be solved by sticking a McDonald’s-like “I’m lovin’ it” cliché up in public view.
Now THAT is a statement I can get behind 100%
>>f you want to keep taking it personally, that’s on you.
Well, if you want to take it personally when I point out that some Atheist zealots are un-holy rollers on par with the best of the Bakkers, the Haggards, the Falwells, and the Swaggarts, and that they’re every bit the evil unthinking adherents to their faith that Mao, Pol Pot, and Stalin were, that’s on you.
As to J.B. Alberto’s, that’s an evil fellow, if you want to park in the area:
http://tinyurl.com/38678y
http://tinyurl.com/398pos
I’ve never tried his pizza, though. I prefer the Jamaican beef patty place on Howard, when in the Rogers Park area.
>>Now THAT is a statement I can get behind 100%
High-five me, Compay!
>>those “Christians” who are waging war on education, art,
>>media, and society are Xian fucktards.
I’m with ya there, Brother. You CAN get a “hallelujah”! By the same token, those painfully obnoxious buzz-kills who go on the warpath about somebody saying “Merry Christmas” in Bergdorf’s or dressing up like Santa Claus are Atheist fucktards.
I guess the spirituality all depends on what _X_ is, doesn’t it? If someone has a profound respect and reverence for fucking small children, I wouldn’t call them “spiritual”. Prolly best that the respect and reverence be directed towards a nobler entity.
#92, 95, 97,
I’m lovin’ it!! I’ll agree with both of you on that one wholeheartedly.
#93 – OFTLO, (& #89 – wizard, wouldn’t want to talk about you behind your front (behind one’s back is in front of them (now I feel like a lisp programmer)))
BTW, clearly wizard is a fucktard of the theist variety. However, I would not personally flag what flavor of theist fucktard s/he is until s/he states so. I also don’t give even a single rat buttock let alone an entire rat ass which flavor. Those who cannot understand that an active statement is pushing something and a lack of statement is exactly that, a lack of statement. Also, if anyone out there thinks that freedom of religion does not include freedom to choose none of the above, they’re probably not worth the attempt at having a true conversation.
#96 – Well, if you want to take it personally when I point out that some Atheist zealots are un-holy rollers on par with the best of the Bakkers, the Haggards, the Falwells, and the Swaggarts,
Some atheists are as ferverent. I never denied that… But atheism still isn’t a religion until such time as God appears and changes the dictionary. THAT is what I take personally.
Millions have fought and died to maintain the purity of the English langu— wait… that’s not true… But still, words have meaning.
As to J.B. Alberto’s, that’s an evil fellow, if you want to park in the area:
Bwahahahahahaha
That’s funny… But they make a mean pie, so I say let them double park. I’ve never been there. I always had it delivered.
#98 – Prolly best that the respect and reverence be directed towards a nobler entity.
Such as the grandeur of Mother nature? …as just one example that involves no supernatural element.