Thread:CreddieCupcake/@comment-4542190-20120603190849/@comment-4196911-20120605171526

'''You said that "it was a McCarthy era nonsense". And I provided the reasons why this does not, by any means, stand.'''

And I still disagree. Since all "loyal" Americans were God-believers, you were suspect if you weren't. It was a litmus-test vote to supposedly show your loyalty. If "In God We Trust" was such a great idea, howcome nobody ever thought about putting it on money until the Founders were all dead? Why didn't anyone think of this terrific idea until the 1950's?

James Madison, the author of the Constitution, didn't even want to pay for military chaplains -- he felt if ministers wanted to follow the troops, the churches should pay for them. That's a far cry from today.

'''Fortunately or unfortunately, United States (and almost all free nations) have Democracy. According to Democracy, what the majority votes for goes. Of course the majority is not always right and the minority must also be respected and heard. Democracy itself (true Democracy) "states" that.'''

Majority votes count for elections of Representatives. Majority rule doesn't count if the majority tries to trample the Constitutional Rights of minorities. The majority doesn't have the right to use the power and authority of the US Government to proclaim and rubber-stamp their theism. It's inappropriate, and I disagree with Court rulings that imply otherwise.

Slavery, denying women the right to vote, etc were forced upon by some, not approved by all free people.

The democratically elected representatives of the people approved all sorts of terrible things, including slavery. A Constitutional Amendment was required to get votes for women, and it didn't happen until 1920. If the "free people" wanted it so bad, howcome it didn't happen a lot sooner? Why did we have to fight a bloody civil war to get rid of slavery? Because majority voting to make sure everyone had their rights didn't work.

About "In God We Trust" inscripted on US currency, Americans freely gave their opinion-which was that they agree and want it to be written on.

And in my view, the Congress over-stepped its authority by doing it.

"In God We Trust" written on coins and bills doesn't force anyone to believe.

That's not the point. God-believers don't have the right to use the US Government to officially agree with what they think on theological matters. Forcing people to believe isn't the issue. Having prayer in school doesn't "force people to believe" either, but it's correctly prohibited. It's inappropriate government endorsement of religion - something the majority always thinks they can get away with just because they're the majority.

These things are an inappropriate use of the power of the government to show favoritism to a certain group of people due to their religious opinions. I would equally have no right to ask the government to print "There is no god" on money, either. It isn't the government's business to have an official opinion about the matter. You don't take a poll to decide these things. People who work for the government can be religious and proclaim their religion as private citizens. They can't use their governmental positionor office to use governmental power to show favoritism through legislation. That's what I'm against. I want private citizens to believe as they wish (whatever it is), and I want the government officially neutral. Things like "In God We Trust" on money is not neutrality. It's a pro-religious slogan on an official government-issued document that we all need to use in order to exist in society.

You don't have to agree - I just want my opinion correctly understood.

Some were deists yes, but most Fathers were inspired by and believed in Jesus Christ as God-if you search it a bit you can find it.

Don't know what websites you're reading, but this isn't true. Not just "some". The heavy-hitters were definitely Deists - Jefferson, Madison, Franklin. Thomas Paine was outright hostile to religion. Some were inspired by Jesus as a moral philosopher (like Jefferson), but that's not Christianity.

Washington and Adams were more mainline, but had much criticism for religious institutions. They weren't fans, believe me. Their opinions are mixed depending on which quotes you cite and when, but they hardly qualify as staunch believers.

There were a few religious fanatics like Patrick Henry, but they were in the small minority and not hugely influential in the final form of the Constitution. You can look at how often religious language was proposed for inclusion in the Constitution, and it was strongly voted down every time. Look it up yourself.

The Declaration of Independence may not be a "legal" (by the narrow meaning) document but it is highly important for all Americans, even "sacred", all (even non-Americans) know that.