It seems Bush has decided it's time to rewrite history to represent Christian egotism yet again. This time, he's declared that "In God we Trust" is now our national motto.
The statement is humorously laced with doublspeak in which he states "our country stands strong as a beacon of religious freedom." Yet it's national motto exclusively respects the Christian God? I don't see how upholding one religion and relegating all others to second class status counts as a beacon of religious freedom. Free to be short changed perhaps?
He proclaims that this motto serves "millions of Americans, [who] recognize the blessings of the Creator." But what about the 14% of the population that don't and the millions of others that don't worship his God? Are they not important?
I suppose he's not really calling all "the people of the United States to observe this day", but instead, only the ones that he actually cares about. The rest of them can piss off.
What I want to know is what happened to "E Pluribus Unum"? It'd be nice to have a national motto that could actually pass the Lemon Test.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
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6 comments:
Well, he's right about one (and only one) thing, that IGWT has been the motto (superseding E Pluribus Unum) for 50 years. You can thank the 1950's Red Scare for that.
"Appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities," he says? Hm, I've got a Sharpie around here somewhere...
I disagree. God is a universal figure. Jews, Moslems, and many other followers of various religions, to a lesser extent, are monotheistic. 'God' is merely an informal name to this deity. Jews, Moslems and Christians believe in Yahweh/Allah/Jehovah, others believe in other gods.
Also, President Bush didn't use any doublespeak. You're merely perceiving it that way. America does promote religious freedom, and this announcement doesn't contradict that, it actually reiterates it. We're a religious country. That's all the motto means.
E Pluribus Unum is out of date, too. Since Vatican II, when Catholic masses were no longer conducted in Latin, most schools stopped teaching it, and it finally became a dead language. It wouldn't make much sense to have a motto in a dead language, and 'Out of many, one' doesn't have the same ring to it.
Whether or not Bush is promoting for all monotheistic religions hardly represents all americans, from the Atheists & Agnostics to the Wiccans who have a Goddess or multiple gods.
And America may be (mostly) a nation of religious people but that does not make the nation's government (which is the one sponsoring this motto) religious, nor does it give it the right to promote any religions any other.
Does Bush not know about the Establishment Clause? Oh, wait ... that would require him to read. If he ever does take up reading, I'm sure the US Constitution would be the last document he gets to.
Well, he's right about one (and only one) thing, that IGWT has been the motto (superseding E Pluribus Unum) for 50 years. You can thank the 1950's Red Scare for that.
"Appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities," he says? Hm, I've got a Sharpie around here somewhere...
Does Bush not know about the Establishment Clause? Oh, wait ... that would require him to read. If he ever does take up reading, I'm sure the US Constitution would be the last document he gets to.
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