In God We Trust: True of America in Times Past – Is It Still True Today?
By: Jerry Newcombe
America is an exceptional nation made up of exceptional people from all over the world. We were founded as a majority Christian nation that relied upon religious liberty and the freedom to worship as we see fit or not at all. We were founded by divine Providence as the city in Rhode Island attests. We recognize our creator who per our founding document sees us all as equals. We recognized Him and not government as the source of our inalienable human rights. We are one nation under God, indivisible... Our motto is In God We Truzt, and yes we do.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Surge Summary: “In God We Trust” is the national motto of the United State. We shouldn’t be surprised that in 2021 that declaration is under attack. Yet, reliance upon God has long been recognized as an American staple for centuries and – and the nation turns from it today at her own peril.
by Jerry Newcombe, D.Min.
Is recognition of God in the public arena today just a meaningless construct? It reminds me of politicians swearing in on a Holy Bible, but having not the slightest clue what the Good Book actually says.
If you asked the average American today, “What is the national motto of America?” I doubt that many of them would answer correctly.
Of course, the answer is, “In God We Trust.” And it has been as such since the 1950s. This harkens back to America’s founding. Americans have been “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,” says the Declaration of Independence, our national birth certificate. Remove the Creator and those rights are in jeopardy.
The Constitution was signed in the year of our Lord 1787 and in the 12 th year of Independence. The Constitution is predicated upon the Declaration. The Declaration explains the why of our government (God-given rights). The Constitution explains the nuts and bolts of how it works.
Virtually all the early charters of the colonies and all the early constitutions of the original 13 states mention God in one way or another. As President Eisenhower once put it, “Recognition of the Supreme Being is the most basic expression of Americanism.”
“In God We Trust”? It sure doesn’t seem to be the case right now.
We see examples of this all over the place:
- An honored veteran has been removed from his post in an athletic league. Why? He defended the National Anthem. Horrors.
- Congressman Jerome Nadler representing New York said recently: “What any religious tradition describes as God’s will is no concern of this Congress.”
- Various pastors are battling over the notion that America is—or ever was—a Christian nation.
The fight over the National Anthem is an interesting conflict, because a little-sung verse at the end of “Oh Say, Can You See” is the source of our national motto, “In God We Trust.”
The verse says, “Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land / Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. / Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’”
The Lincoln administration was the first to add the words “In God We Trust” onto our coins—during the Civil War.
But today the National Anthem is under siege. It is more popular for the woke crowd to disrespect the National Anthem to celebrate it. It is being treated as if has something to do with racism in America’s past.
The National Anthem was born during the War of 1812, a conflict between the United States, a relatively new nation, and Great Britain. Black slavery had nothing to do with the conflict per se.
Human Events notes (3/4/21) that Seth Jahn, a Native-American who has served in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been removed from the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Athlete Council because he defends the National Anthem. Despite his 11 years’ service in the military, he has become persona non grata for wanting to honor America and its traditions.
He told the committee, “…in all of history, only one country has fought to abolish slavery, the United States of America, where nearly 400,000 men died to fight for the abolishment of slavery underneath the same stars and bars that our athletes take a knee for. Their sacrifice is tainted with every knee that touches the ground.” (Some estimate that number to be closer to 700,000.)
The founders of America spoke on numerous occasions about the importance of recognizing God’s help—even in our becoming a nation in the first place.
The very first inaugural address (April 30, 1789) delivered by the first president, George Washington, stressed the importance of our national obligation to thank God for His help that we even exist as a nation.
Said Washington, “No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men more than the People of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.”
Our second president, John Adams, noted in a letter to our third president, Thomas Jefferson: “The general Principles, on which the Fathers Achieved Independence, were the only Principles in which, that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite…And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity.”
But today a new crop of American leaders is trying to exclude God and Christian influence from having anything to do with the public arena. But since God is the source of our rights, that’s like the proverbial man sitting on a branch while he is busily trying to saw that limb off the tree.
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Rep. Nadler was exactly right. Whatever some religious devotee believes to be his or her deity's "will" is totally irrelevant to the workings of our government.
It's funny and quite arrogant how some people think they know what the grandest possible entity wants or thinks. One can say it's quite delusional too.
Indeed. The government is supposed to be secular and religiously neutral, just as the Founding Fathers designed. Religion has no place or say in our secular government and laws, per the Constitution.
It is the epitome of arrogance.
Indeed. That's one way to describe it.
Well that would certainly be true. If one did know the will of the grandest possible entity it would be incredibly arrogant and, indeed, self-destructive to do the opposite.
However, not accepting that words from ancient men represent the will of the grandest possible entity is not arrogance in any form, it is simply thinking critically. It is being appropriately skeptical pending some real evidence.
You have no idea what the will of God might be. Nobody does. It is pure arrogance to think that a supreme entity would entrust you with such knowledge.
An example of the absurdity of your claim. You hold that God picks our leaders. Thus God picked Biden. Every time you make false claims against Biden you are going against the will of God. Odd that you cannot recognize that.
Only someone with overweening arrogance would claim to know what "God's will" is. The more arrogant a fool like that is generally the deeper their psychological dysfunction.
Completely irrelevant to a secular nation and government.
How the fuck do you know the difference in the first place?
oops!
And of course this (via confirmation bias) is ignored alongside every other obvious contradiction that goes against the belief. Shaping reality to meet one's desires results in fake facts and, ultimately, irrational positions.
God is now gawd, ordained by the Q and used by the dweller at Mar-a-Lago.
And trust what? What does that mean?
In other words, imaginary.
On point.
So by enslaving other human beings they were not defying God?
Fortunately, religious freedom means one was free to do just that if they so chose.
As usual
No. The Founding Fathers were 'students' of The Enlightenment Period and justly viewed religion as an ingrained edifice in the populous. They also understood that religion was also a useful instrument for societal control. The vast majority of them were Deist.
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The word "GOD" means many things to many people.
Religion and the Founding Fathers
The founding fathers were a mixture of deists, Christians, and possibly one atheist. Assigning beliefs to the founding fathers collectively, however, is a difficult task. As a group, the founders stopped short of religious establishment because of their own diversity and experience with state sponsored religion in Europe. However, they broadly recognized a “Creator” or “Nature’s God” without ascribing to one particular religion. Their belief systems were products of ancient philosophy, the Enlightenment, and the Reformation. Their diverse beliefs, however, refute any exclusive claim to one religion or belief system.
/worldhistory.us/american-history/beliefs-of-the-founding-fathers.php
MAGA do you really mean that? Really? How kind of you!
MAGA, in his day, what parts of your bible did President Thomas Jefferson exclude from his Jefferson Bible?
Why trust anyone who hates scallops?
Every so often I have to schlep this out...
Every so often, some people need a reminder. Or an education.