Like they had no idea someone might object? In Texas??
Coin image omits ‘In God We Trust’
A Keller school district parent said political correctness has run amok at her daughter’s elementary school, where the principal chose to omit the words “In God We Trust” from an oversize coin depicted on the yearbook cover.
Janet Travis, principal of Liberty Elementary School in Colleyville, wanted to avoid offending students of different religions, a district spokesman said. Students were given stickers with the words that could be affixed to the book if they so chose.
Debi Ackerman of North Richland Hills said she is offended by the omission. It’s yet another example of a politically correct culture that is removing Christian references from all public places, she said.
“I think it’s really ridiculous,” said Ackerman, whose daughter Tawni, 10, took the book home Thursday afternoon. “Now it has come to this. … When is it going to end?”
She likened the situation to retailers that use “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas” in their displays and advertising.
When will people in this country get it that not everyone in this country is Christian? Better yet, that not everyone in this country believes in god. Is it really necessary for Christians to have references to their religion everywhere? It’s like they are going to forget who they are if not constantly being reminded everywhere and all the time.
It’s already bad enough to make people swear to a “Bible” in court…don’t force your religious beliefs onto the rest of the secular state…
Granted, this country was founding by some god believing people (nothing wrong with that), but the whole reason why they even came here and wrote out the Constitution is to avoid prosecutors from cramming religion down on everyone else…
Wait until O’Reilly gets hold of this. BTW, I’m an atheist, but this was a stupid idea. Who couldn’t foresee a bucketload of snakes coming out of it?
Well said forrest.
Why the hell should we change everything for ignorant bastards? This country has always been all immigrants. And not to mention almost every religion has a GOD. How about they use their imagination a bit.
As so many people worldwide do, I worship money, so seeing the phrase “In God We Trust” engraved on money always seems a little self-referentially glorifying, but not at all offensive. My friends who worship Apollo are not offended either.
Removing this universal phrase from the yearbook cover goes way beyond sensitivity all the way to silly, but it certainly answers one question I had. There’s certainly no connection between Liberty Elementary School and Liberty University (founded by Falwell).
The first word that pops into my head when I read the following sentences is “prissy”.
“Janet Travis, principal of Liberty Elementary School in Colleyville, wanted to avoid offending students….”
“It’s not always easy to make everybody happy when we are making decisions…” [J. Meyer, district spokesman]
“I think that the school administrators were drawing the appropriate line by trying not to offend others.” [M. Linz, ACLU]
Well la dee da da, don’t they all look fine in their pretty pink dresses.
Either put a nickel on the yearbook cover or don’t put a nickel on the yearbook cover, but for cripes’ sake cut this crap out. It only gives ammunition to the religious nutballs.
First of all let me state, that by far the majority of American’s are Christian. That being said, if all the minorities who have a beef with Christianity, I say to you all too bad. If you don’t like for example Christmas, then don’t celebrate it. America as a society which is predominantly Christian, established their country based on their values, just as any other societies have, such as Iran, Iraq, Russia, Africa etc. These minorities should be thankful that in America they are all free to practice their religions or atheist leanings. The same cannot be said for any of the countries tha I previously mentioned.
Someone will always be offended about something, no matter what is done. At some point (and I think we are far past it) we need to just say, “Hey, too bad!”.
#1 – “but the whole reason why they even came here and wrote out the Constitution is to avoid prosecutors from cramming religion down on everyone else”
I believe their definition and your definition are two different things. No one here is being jailed, tortured, or killed because of their religious beliefs. That being said, I think the line between church and state is becoming blurred – moreso than it has been in the past. The government should be religion free, while allowing those who make up the government to worship as they please.
Unfortunately we as human beings have problems making the distinction between emotion and reason. That is why our government can never be free from religious influence – nor greed, lust, envy, etc.
When will people in this country get it that not everyone in this country is Christian?
When will you get that minority rights does not mean protecting your sensitive eyes from something that is harmless?
If it makes you feel better, I don’t look down on you because you’re not Catholic. I look down on you because you think your rights are more important, and not equal to, mine.
Instead of totally omitting “In God We Trust”, they should have inserted a typo into the phrase: “In Good We Trust”. Nobody gets hurt and the school excludes God.
This is great! I am actually from the area that this is talking about! I had many friends in Keller schools and let me tell you, this is par for the course. The county where all of this takes place is Tarrant County, if you’ll notice on the election charts it’s the ‘Not as Red County’ in the area. Most of it’s inhabitants are transplants from other areas who work in Dallas or Fort Worth. Since there are less native Texans in the area, there is much more local controversy over topics such as this then in other areas of Texas. As with any school/religious topic, we walk a fine line. However in this case, I feel like having ‘In God We Trust’ on an image of a penny is not condoning religion. It’s just a penny, not even a real one. By keeping the words on the image it is simply being faithful to what a penny looks like. More disturbingly, however, is the fact that the principle took the time and effort to photoshop a penny then run the school.
Both parties are wrong, of course, for different reasons.
Debi’s comparison doesn’t wash. Retailers don’t want to exclude even 5% of their customers. That could be the difference between making their margin and not. The only solution would be targetting ads to their individual customers’ religious beliefs. How would the retailer determine that? Send out questionaires asking for potential advertising targets’ religious preferences? Of course the decline-to-states could be sent “Happy Holidays” since it is accurate, if generic.
Janet, the principal, on the other hand, what kind of message and example is she sending kids by eliding parts of reality? Are Stalinist measures really required? Either the coin was a valid stylistic element or not. Removing the ‘In God We Trust’ is defacement of reality. Will she next be having photoshopped-out pictures of students whose disciplinary records don’t meet her standards?
Well maybe that last is a little over the top. Or not.
Why can’t we offend people anymore? I don’t get it.
Isn’t what classifies as “offending” in the eye-of-the-beholder? How can I decide what might offend another, especially someone LOOKING to be offended (and you know those little rigid colons exist)? Why are we tiptoeing around worried about what me might say/do that MIGHT (or might not) offend someone?
Personally, I find the style of pants at half-mast to be beyond offensive. I find the bare midrifts of fat teenaged girls make me want to gag back the vomit. I find nasal piercings to make me wince…..and many facial ones, as well. So, why aren’t these people worried about offending ME!!!
I never stated that this is something I was personally offended by, especially being that I am Christian as well. I guess that makes me not part of the minority. However, I think it’s ridiculous for there to be such a big stink about the lack of the phase “In God We Trust.”
And yes…I think it is a prosecution because that is exactly what the principle of the elementary school is getting from parents like the one in the article. If you think otherwise, then that’s okay too…you are definitely entitled to your opinion.
It probably would have been easier for them to avoid this issue altogether by putting something else on the cover, like…the school’s emblem or something.
God is not a Chrisitan concept, it is a concept of many world religions. A faith in God, within the context of the US is not specfic to Chrisitianities many different understandings of God, but rather a bisc understanding of Diety. The founding fathers were not all Christians, but most had an understanding of something more than us.
If it was “In Christ we Trust” then yeas it would be a Christian thing. But “In God we Trust” only those who do not believe in Diety,Ultimate Reality… does it affect. There are relativly few in the US who do not, some who are unsure one way or another, and the majority do. The same is true for the rest of the world.
This is just silly.
Also in court you are NOT required to swear on a Bible. You can swear on the Koran or indicate that in your beliefs swearing on a holy book is wrong. You must agree to tell the truth.
Yes – one, why put a coin on your cover? two, why edit it – American Currency reads “In God we Trust” has for decades fact of life … its a retarded edit …
USA is a republic based on ‘governed by the people, for the people’ which is different than ‘governed by the majority, for the majority’. What is the majority based on? Is it based on religion, politics, skin color or some other term used to divide people? Who decides the majority? I should have no more power over you than you have over me no matter what the criteria is.
Those who state that the majority of the people of the USA are christrians and should not have the minority dictate what the majority should do are acting like a child. America is great because of all of its people not because of a portion. Quit trying to divide a great nation and help it move forward as one nation.
The practice of putting that tagline “in God we trust” is unbiblical. Jesus did not protest that Caesar’s name and title were etched on the coins of ancient Jerusalem. Jesus even suggests that people should “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” Coins and money are Caesarian artifacts which do not need to bear the name of God. The value that man places on coins is representative of the worldly gold and not of gold that God is offering.
“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. ” (Revelation 3:18)
bac….we are a representative democracy(republic)and as such, majority does rule. It would be hard to have elections of candidates and issues if the majority would be the loser(2000 prez election not counted…..lol).
All religions have at least 1 God…..so this has nothing to do with any particular religion, and is not meant to even imply religion in the usual context. Even Atheism is a religion in an off way, it’s a belief, or non-belief, however you want to view it.
Smartalix…..it dosen’t matter when it was put on our money….it’s there. As an American, you can ignore it or not, thats your choice. But, once again, that awful thing called….*majority rules* says it’s just fine there. Neither you nor I can say what the Founders thought or would have thought of the phrase on the money. In fact, I doubt they even had a nickel back when the Founders were founding, and if they did…..I’m betting Jefferson wasn’t on it.
Admittedly, the school should have included the phrase on the coin as that would have been an accurate representation. Now, whether the phrase should be on the coin in the first place….
#4
> Why the hell should we change everything for ignorant
> bastards? This country has always been all immigrants. And
> not to mention almost every religion has a GOD. How about
> they use their imagination a bit.
I would say that by definition every religion has at least one supernatural being. But that is where the similarities end. Some religions have multiple deities. Some people are not religious at all. There is absolutely no legitimate reason to have a religious reference on money.
#7
> These minorities should be thankful that in America
> they are all free to practice their religions or atheist leanings.
Proof positive there really is a need for the First Amendment.
#14
> However, I think it’s ridiculous for there to be such a
> big stink about the lack of the phase “In God We Trust.”
Really. So, how would you feel if we changed it to:
“In Zeus We Trust”
“In the Four Winds We Trust”
“In Satan We Trust”
“In Xenu We Trust”
“In the Tree Spirits We Trust”
…
#15
> God is not a Chrisitan concept, it is a concept of many world religions.
Nonsense. If what you are saying were true, then “God” should not be capitalized or it should be preceded by an article (e.g. “In a god we trust”). No one (meaning the Courts) questions that “God” refers to a proper noun. At the very least, we are excluding polytheists and atheists in this phrase. Government has absolutely no business endorsing any type of religion of any kind in any way. There is absolutely no need whatsoever for this phrase to be on money.
Nice argument Hal (20) – Us Christians should just drop the issue and let them take it off the coins – bingo, everyone’s happy, and we might actually achieve the pipe dream of bac’s (18) otherwise, the will of the people consists of the will of the majority on a given issue – no one will agree 100% of the time, but the group that says, say, big buisness is inherently evil is not the same as the group that says George Bush is inherently evil (for instance) – thus, any one person’s views on a given subject are equally valid for governmental policy as anyone elses, providing 51% of the country agrees with him.