God Bless America

[joanne_h]

Normally, I'm for keeping church and state out of each other's business as much as humanly possible, mostly to protect religion from government intrusion and idolatry, but also to protect us from zealots who think Jesus wears an American flag lapel pin.Inserting "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance and adding "In God We Trust" to our money diminishes religious faith, which recognizes no national borders or economic systems. And it disrespects America's pluralistic promise.But lately, I'm beginning to think that evangelical Christians who are complaining about the "War on God in America" have a point. "There's a terrible movement to rewrite our history and obscure our faith," J. Randy Forbes, a Republican congressman from Virginia, told the National Review this week.I don't know about a movement, but things are getting a bit suspicious.Take the new $621 million capitol Visitor Center, which opened this week to mixed reviews. Among the critics were Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who several weeks ago noticed that something was missing from a center's replica of the House Speaker's rostrum. The words "In God We Trust" -- engraved over the actual rostrum in 1962 -- were not included in the replica.The center identified "E. Pluribus Unum" (rather than "In God We Trust") as the official national motto. Displays deleted these words from Article 3 of the Northwest Ordinance; "Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind..."; and the words "in the Year of Our Lord" from Article 7 of the Constitution.DeMint and dozens of other congressmen objected and the deleted phrases were restored. But Demint, Forbes and still aren't happy about other godless aspects of the center, especially this quote etched into a wall near the entrance: "We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common oracle but the Constitution." That's a quote from 19th Century Congressman Rufus Choate of Massachusetts."This is an intentional misrepresentation of our nation's real history and an offensive refusal to honor America's God-given blessings," DeMint told James Rosen of McClatchy Newspapers.DeMint and other concerned evangelicals say this is only the latest in a series of attempts to erase God from public life in Washington. Neither the World War II Memorial (2004) nor the FDR Memorial (1997) -- Washington's two newest monuments -- contain references to God. The WWII memorial includes a God-related quote from Eisenhower's D-Day message, but it ends just before the general seeks "the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking." In 2007, a replica of the Washington Monument's aluminum cap, on display inside the monument, recently was turned so that the words "Laus Deo" (Latin for 'Praise be to God') were no longer visible to vistors. After receiving 28,000 email complaints, the National Park Service said it was a simple mistake and they'd turn it back.In 2007, after protests from House Republican Leader John Boehner and others, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol reversed its stated policy of removing references to God or religion from certificates that were given to citizens along with flags flown ceremonially over the Capitol.The new John Quincy Adams Presidential Dollar, released earlier this year, contained the words "In God We Trust" along the edge of the coin rather than on its face. After receiving many complaints, the U.S. Mint announced that the motto will appear on the heads side of the 2009 Adams dollars.FDR talked publicly about God as much as any president. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Churchill and other leaders delivered public prayers during World War II. Nearly every major public building and monument in Washington has at least one reference to God.Separation of church and state is vital to our liberty. But trying to scrub from American history or public life every reference to God or faith isn't just silly. It's inaccurate and misleading.