TruthBook Religious News Blog

Published: August 29, 2008
By Cristin Ross

MSNBC.com has launched a “Live Vote” Internet poll on its Web site, asking “should the motto ‘In God We Trust’ be removed from U.S. currency?”

Of the 7,230,365 votes cast as of 11:45 a.m. Monday, 78 percent of those participating in the poll voted to keep the motto, compared to 22 percent voting to remove it from U.S. currency.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” said Kevin King, senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church-Jacksonville. “I think most people, particularly in this region, have a deep faith and believe this country was founded on that.

The Daily Progress’s attempts to interview a local atheist were unsuccessful.

MSNBC’s Web site acknowledges the poll is not a scientific survey. Phone messages left at MSNBC offices were not returned as of presstime today.

The poll stems from an Associated Press article, also published on the Web site, chronicling the efforts of Sacramento, Calif., atheist Michael Newdow to get the motto removed.

According to the AP article, Newdow filed a federal lawsuit last week, claiming the motto is “an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.”

Congress first authorized a reference to God on a two-cent piece in 1864. The action followed a request by the director of the U.S. Mint, who wrote there should be a “distinct and unequivocal national recognition of the divine sovereignty” on the nation’s coins.

In 1954, Congress inserted the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. A year later, Congress required all currency to carry the motto “In God We Trust.”

“The placement of ‘In God We Trust’ on the coins and currency was clearly done for religious purposes and to have religious effects,” Newdow wrote in the 162-page lawsuit he filed against Congress.

Newdow’s latest lawsuit came five days after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected, without comment, a challenge to an inscription of “In God We Trust” on a North Carolina county government building.

In doing so, the justices upheld the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that “In God We Trust” appears on the nation’s coins and is a national motto.

“In this situation, the reasonable observer must be deemed aware of the patriotic uses, both historical and present, of the phrase ‘In God We Trust,”’ the appeals panel ruled in upholding the inscription’s display.

Newdow, a doctor and lawyer, used a similar argument when he challenged the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools for containing the words “under God.” In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled he “lacked standing to bring the case because he did not have custody of the daughter he sued on behalf of.”

An identical lawsuit later brought by Newdow on behalf of parents with children in three Sacramento-area school districts is pending with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, after a Sacramento federal judge sided with Newdow last September. The judge stayed enforcement of the decision pending appeal, which is expected to reach the Supreme Court.

Labels: "In God We Trust", atheism, Cristin Ross, currency, Michael Newdow, money, MSNBC, US Constitution

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Study shows Americans want theocracy, not democracy

Rebecca Mahfouz
Issue date: 10/16/07

Page one of 2 - click link to "external source" for whole article.

The First Amendment Center released the dismal results of its yearly "State of the First Amendment" survey last month, revealing that Americans' ignorance of their Constitution surpasses even their notorious ignorance of geography.

An astonishing 65 percent of those surveyed believe the founders intended America as a Christian nation, while 55 percent believe that the Constitution explicitly establishes America as a Christian nation. Fifty-eight percent think that teachers should be allowed to lead prayers in public school and a terrifying 50 percent believe the Bible should be taught as a factual text in public schools.

A small bright spot appeared among the disheartening results, as 97 percent said that the right to practice one's own religion was "essential." That tiny candle of hope was extinguished by the results of the next question, wherein just 56 percent agreed that the right to worship applies to all religious groups, meaning that a good number of the 97 percent who purport to believe in freedom of religion really mean freedom to practice their religion and no other.

As though any further proof were needed that we have failed miserably in the area of education, those surveyed seemed never to have been required to take a high school civics course. When they were asked to name the five freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution, just 3 percent were able to name the right to petition, 16 percent the freedoms of press and assembly, 19 percent freedom of religion and 64 percent freedom of speech.

One can cling to the belief that this survey is a fluke, that Americans can't possibly be so ill-informed of their essential liberties, especially given the increasing curtailment of those liberties. The results of the survey, however, have been fairly consistent over the past 10 years, exposing us for the hypocrites we are.

Labels: America, Christianity, First Amendment Center, Rebecca Mahfouz, religion, US Constitution

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Monday, October 15, 2007

So what does the Constitution say about religion?

(It may not be what you think.)

By Oliver "Buzz" Thomas

Ask most Americans what the Constitution says about God, and their answers may surprise you.

"One nation under God?"

Nope, that's the Pledge of Allegiance.

"Oh, yeah, right, right. How about, 'Endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights'?"

Sorry, but that's the Declaration of Independence.

"Hmmmm."

Mostly what you'll get is a lot of blank stares. Trust me. I've tried it in nearly 50 states. Fully 55% of the country, according to a recent survey by the First Amendment Center, believes that the U.S. Constitution establishes us as a "Christian nation." Worse still, while nearly all Americans say freedom of religion is important, only 56% think it should apply to all religious groups. The truth is that the Constitution says nothing about God. Not one word. And, you can bet that some of the local clergy back in the 1780s howled about it. Newspapers, pamphlets and sermons decried the drafters' failure to acknowledge God.

One, and only one, reference

Even more interesting is what the Constitution has to say about religion. Although many of the nation's loudest religionists continue to assert that America is a Christian nation in some legal or constitutional sense, the language of the original Constitution itself suggests otherwise. The only reference to religion is tucked away in Article VI and reads: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

So, why would the framers of our Constitution do such a thing, and moreover, why two years later would they adopt a constitutional amendment declaring that the new federal government could "make no law respecting an establishment of religion?" Was it because they were militant atheists? Hardly. James Madison, the primary architect of our Constitution, studied under the tutelage of Presbyterian-preacher-turned-Princeton-president John Witherspoon and even considered a career in the ministry before opting for politics.

More likely, the framers were concerned about the corrupting influence the institutions of church and state have on each other when either becomes too cozy. These guys knew their history. They had witnessed the blood shed by governments in the name of religion. Europe was nearly destroyed by it. They also knew their politics. The Baptists, Presbyterians and other Evangelicals were fed up with religion that was "established" by the state (as was the Anglican Church in many Southern colonies and the Congregational Church in New England) and were determined to achieve full-throttle religious freedom for all — believers and non-believers alike. It was prominent Virginia Baptist John Leland who declared, "The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever!" Pastor Leland went on to assert that "the fondness of magistrates to foster Christianity has done it more harm than all the persecutions ever did." Leland and his Baptist colleagues played a key role in helping persuade Madison to support a federal Bill of Rights guaranteeing liberty of conscience for all.

What 'separation' really means

America has institutionalized this great theological concept through the political mechanism of the First Amendment. The "no establishment" clause separates the institutions of church and state by prohibiting any government action that has the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion. Government is to remain neutral. No citizen should be advantaged or disadvantaged because of his religious faith.

The separation of church and state does not mean the separation of God and government or of religion and politics. The First Amendment limits only the power of government — not the power of the people or of the church. Religious organizations are free to speak out on the issues of the day. They can preach, pray, proselytize, promote and, yes, even endorse candidates if they are foolish enough to do so. (They will, however, have to forfeit their tax exemption if they use church funds, since we don't allow a tax deduction for monies given to partisan causes — just charitable ones.) Again, it is government — not religious organizations — that is restricted by our Constitution.

Oliver "Buzz" Thomas is a minister, lawyer and author of 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't Because He Needs the Job).

Labels: Christianity, God, Oliver "Buzz" Thomas, separation of church and state, US Constitution

Permalink | Link to External Source Article

Friday, September 14, 2007

Don't know much about basic freedoms

9/14/2007 5:56:18 AM
Daily Journal

BY ERROL CASTENS
Daily Journal Oxford Bureau

OXFORD - Americans claim to treasure their freedoms, but most of us don't know what they are.

A survey released Wednesday by the Washington- and Nashville-based First Amendment Center shows few can even name all the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Sixty-four percent of respondents could name freedom of speech, but only 19 percent named freedom of religion. Freedom of the press and the right of assembly each were named by just 16 percent of respondents, and only 3 percent could recall the right to petition the government.

Fudging on the freedoms

Gene Policinski, vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, presented the results of the organization's survey Thursday to students, faculty members and professional journalists at Ole Miss.

More than 25 percent said freedom of religion was never intended to extend "to religious groups that the majority of the people consider extreme or on the fringe." Policinski reminded the audience that at different times in American history, both Roman Catholics and Baptists were considered "on the fringe."

"When we begin to marginalize religion, it does harm to what I think the Constitution provides," he said.

Labels: Errol Castens, First Amendment Center, religious freedom, US Constitution