God Has Been Hijacked — “In God We Trust” is Stale and Needs To Go

A new poll is out on MSNBC asks, should “In God We Trust” be yanked from our currency — of course! Take the poll yourself: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

While our nation’s motto, E Pluribus Unum, is more relevant than ever, the phrase “In God We Trust” has been hijacked by the Christians, needs modernizing and should be removed from our currency.

It’s not that “In God We Trust,” was ever a non-Christian thing. For most non-Christians it often went unnoticed or was met with compliance — at least it doesn’t say “In Jesus we Trust.”

Unfortunately the insecurity of some Christians out there has caused them to grasp tightly onto their mythology that America is a Christian nation, founded upon Christian principles — history (past and present) shows that this is not the case. As their collective ego fears the growth of other religions (or those not religious at all) they’re fighting tooth and nail for any such thread of hope that supports their failing optimism for a Christian America — and “In God We Trust” is one of those last beacons. It provides the boost their collective ego yearns for to demonstrate their superiority over other faiths, over other Americans.

The founding fathers were quite wise and deliberate to leave God out of the Constitution and largely out of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson’s creative genius is powerful as he leaves “God” out of the equation when declaring:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Jefferson and his compatriots knew that they were establishing a nation that would recognize religious freedoms — for Christians, Jews, Hindu’s, Muslims, Native Americans, Athiests and others. They knew that use of the term “God” was not inclusive, while the use of the term “Creator,” remarkably, was.

Sadly, the overzealous Christians have hijacked the term “God.” Now when we hear the word God it is always considered first in the Christian context. Many non-Christians have found alternative ways of expressing themselves by using terms such as “the divine,” “the universe,” “the great spirit,” amongst others to distinguish their beliefs from those professed by some Christians. It is time our currency and our government fully respected the diversity of our nation — as it did upon its founding.

E Pluribus Unum! Out of many, one! We are a diverse nation, growing more and more diverse by the day. We are a people of many ethnicity’s, many cultures, many races and many religions. Our government should honor and respect all of the people of this nation, excluding none.

“In God We Trust” and “One Nation Under God” have become the exclusive domain of the Christians. And it is precisely because of the arrogance of some Christians that such phrases have become offensive to others.

Regardless of race, ethnicity or creed, let us remember that we are all Americans! Can we not agree to focus on what makes us a nation and to focus on what binds us? Why continue to to build walls that divide us? It is time for us all to recognize that which makes us and keeps us so strong — our beautiful diversity!