In 1956, the nation was suffering through the height of the cold war, and the McCarthy anti-communist witch hunt. Partly in reaction to these factors, the 84th Congress passed a joint resolution to replace the existing motto with "In God we Trust." The president signed the resolution into law on 1956-JUL-30. The change was partly motivated by a desire to differentiate between communism, which promotes Atheism, and Western capitalistic democracies, which were at least nominally Christian. The phrase "Atheistic Communists" has been repeated so many times that the public has linked Atheism with communism; the two are often considered synonymous. Many consider Atheism as unpatriotic and un-American as is communism. The new motto was first used on paper money in 1957, when it was added to the one-dollar silver certificate. By 1966, "In God we Trust" was added to all paper money, from $1 to $100 denominations.
The same was true in the case of adding "One nation under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Courtesy of Historic Documents:
In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today:
It should be noted that in 2002, Michael A. Newdow, an Atheist from Sacramento, CA, was successful in having the phrase "under God" declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, an act by Congress limited the power of the Judiciary, thus preventing the removal of the phrase.
So not only were the "One Nation Under God" and "In God We Trust" phrases added to reinforce America's true religion, Capitalism, even after the addition to the pledge was deemed unconstitutional, the Congress simply circumvented the wishes of the Founding Fathers.
How patriotic of them.
Apparently nothing is quite as important as making sure that Socialism, Communism, and let's not forget Atheism, are not allowed to gain a toe hold in this country.
But hey, I'll try not to let it bother me.
There is a local church with the following wordson their sign these past two weeks: Without God, we are a nation under. Really? If we take those words away, we are finished? I'd counter that if words are all that is keeping the US the US, we are already 'under.' And right now, we are under the power of the Kochs (who have deciamted Detroit with a tixoc pile of tar sands sludge illegally dumped along the Dtroit River) and the Tea Party, neither of whom are the least bit Christian or Godly with their threats. So think, America, very carefully about who we really trust.
ReplyDeleteIt bothered me when PBO was criticized for not wearing a stupid flag pin....It bothers me that he has to end every speech with "and god bless america"!
ReplyDeleteWhich god?
The Hindu god?God of rain? Which god exactly? One nation under god? WTF?
Maybe he should says "the Gods bless Americka"?
Anyway tired of this shit. God has no place in politics at all or on our money but perhaps its on there and that why people treat it as a god ie: kocksuckers and repidlicans to them $ is god!
Fuck them.
And I don't hang a flag out. To me the flag is for cons and teabaggers.
Sad how badly they have wrecked America.
Thanks Sarah palinusa, usa! <----fuck u skankerella!
Less and less folks are 'christian' in the U.S. and so many that profess to be are anything but! Look how they act and live their lives!
ReplyDeleteI'm agnostic and was raised in a home professing to be Catholic - it was a nightmare and I got out of there at the age of 17!
Wow, I had no idea! Thank you for posting, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteR in NC
It's stuff like this that makes my chest hurt. Seriously. Like I can feel my heart rate start to increase and my blood pressure inch up.
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing about this. I will no longer feel guilty when I refuse to put my hand over my heart and say the Pledge of Allegiance (like at the recent July 4th parade we attended).
I have also wondered about President Obama's constant refrain at the end of every speech. I voted for him. I support him. I will until the end. But I wish he wouldn't cave (like with that blasted flag pin someone above referenced) to the demented half of this country.
My uncle reminded me last night of the fact that despite the Dark Side's best efforts, President Obama was handily reelected. That gives me hope. Perhaps there is a modicum of common sense floating around this country.
And perhaps those same people feel as you, and I, and others that have commented here, that religion has no place within the walls of government. And this nation is NOT a Christian nation. NOT. Never was.
Whew. I've got to go do something to bring down the blood pressure.
Happy day all from a sunny, yet very cool Wyoming. Fall is in the air.
Yes, I know that technically it is the beginning of August, but our summers are fast and fleeting here. If you blink, you might miss it. And we've started the downward slide to colder days.
Wow, now high blood pressure and depression...what a mix. Off to get some sunshine!!
I know you are focused on the "under God" issue, but there is another one...right there in the pledge that our Tea Party friends love so much. It reads: ...one nation INDIVISIBLE with liberty.... So my dear secessionists...put that in you pipe(gun?) and smoke it. :)))
ReplyDeleteNote regarding the Pledge, the phrase “under God" is placed in such a way as to divide “one nation indivisible."
ReplyDeleteI grew up with a crazy old nun in school who made us recite the preamble to the constitution, pledge of allegiance, sing "God Bless America" and God Bless Richard Nixon. She raged about the "Communist Threat", insisted that the peace symbol and Mercedes Benz symbol are fashioned from a broken cross, and a whole bunch of crazy about the iron curtain, mini skirts and birth control pills. The upside was, after all this bullshit, she only had fifteen minutes left to "teach".
ReplyDeleteShe was "ahead of her time", she'd make the perfect palinbot.
To me, it's an insult to have "In God We Trust" on money. Yeah, money CAN be used to do some great things, but a lot of people do nasty stuff for and with money. That, and the "Root of all evil" thing.