Shut Up and Be Quiet

I received an email from an old friend today. It was one of those classic forwarded messages that makes the rounds (I get these all the time). Normally, I simply deposit them neatly into the trash. This time, I decided to respond.

The original message read:

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

I was asked to send this on if I agree or delete if I don't.

It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God.

Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having "In God! We Trust" on our money and having "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Why don't we just tell the 14% to Shut Up and BE QUIET!!!

If you agree, pass this on, if not delete.

I AGREE !!!!

"God Bless America."

I carefully wrote a reply to all of the original recipients, and BCC'd everyone to protect their privacy. Here's what I had to say about it:

Why is it always so much easier to appeal to emotion rather than logic and reason?

If you're receiving this email, it's because you were included in the same original distribution that I was, or that I've added you because I thought you might take an interest and might want to pass this along. In any event, I've removed everybody's original email addresses and blind copied everyone in order to protect privacy.

If you didn't receive the original message, you may want to scroll to the end and read it before you continue. Suffice to say it was an inflammatory bit about the phrases "under God" and "in God we trust" that will no doubt enrage and incite people based upon emotional reaction. With this email, I seek to use logic and reasoning. If you're a bigot, a zealot, or just plain stupid, you might as well not read any further. You won't be able to comprehend the message anyway.

If, on the other hand, you want to know facts rather than conjecture, please read on, and let us begin our journey. You may not agree with my side of the issue, but at the end of this email, I promise you'll have a better understanding of the facts.

By now you may have realized that I respectfully disagree with the original author who so elegantly asserted, " Why don't we just tell the 14% to Shut Up and BE QUIET!!!" That said, I expect his or her viewpoint would be quite revered and admired in places like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine and Iran, whom all impose a state-sponsored religion. Nevertheless, since we're speaking of the United States, I'll limit my commentary to the issues here at home -- specifically, the original author's revulsion at the prospect of removing phrases that refer to God from the pledge and our national currency.

Arguments in favor of references to God range from academic ("we're preserving history") to belligerence ("we're a Christian nation so deal with it"). Unfortunately, statements made in support of these arguments are most often factually incorrect.

It is worth noting that the Pledge of Allegiance, originally written by Francis Bellamy in 1892, did not contain the phrase "under God". That phrase was added by Congress in 1954 after heavy lobbying by the Knights of Columbus during a time when professing a belief in a supreme being was synonymous with denouncing communism. (Full history of the pledge here: http://history.vineyard.net/pledge.htm) Thus, the historical argument is not valid -- at least in the case of the pledge. But what about the national motto?

Our national motto, as written by the framers (or "founding fathers", if you prefer), was the Latin phrase "E Pluribus Unum", which translates to "One from many" or "One from many parts". Unquestionably, "E Pluribus Unum" was a uniting phrase designed to showcase one of the strengths of America. As such, it accurately reflects the inclusive nature of our great country. This motto stood for almost 175 years until on July 30th, 1956, during the height of the Cold War and the McCarthy "communist witch hunt", the motto was changed to its current form: "In God We Trust". With one stroke of the pen, we undid more than a hundred years of history, ergo the historic preservation argument does not hold water for the national motto either. (Full history of the national motto here: http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_mott.htm )

As for the religious majority cited by the original author, the exact numbers are relatively easy to find. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as of 2001, 76.5% of Americans self-identified their religious beliefs as falling under the umbrella of Christianity. The next highest category, with 13.2% was "Nonreligious/Secular". Judaism was third with 1.3%, and every other category gleaned less than 1%. (Source: http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html )

The latest study on the topic of religion's role in the United States, however, was published by The Pew Research Center in 2002 (complete study here: http://pewforum.org/publications/reports/poll2002.pdf).

Interestingly, even given the undeniably large majority enjoyed by Christianity, when asked "Can you be a good American without Religious faith?" fully 84% of the respondents said yes. Similarly, when asked "[Is] belief in God needed to be moral?" only 47% answered yes.

Thus, most Americans generally do not believe that professing a belief in "God" is a litmus test for patriotism, being a "good American", or even being moral.

Another thing I would point out is that the framers had ample opportunity to include references to God in the documents they drafted. It may surprise you to learn that the word "God" never appears in the United States Constitution - not in the original text, not in the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments), and not in any other amendment.

The closest the framers came to including God was in the Declaration of Independence. Everyone is familiar with the phrase "...endowed by their Creator...", which is remarkably neutral, but the word "God" actually does appear in the text. That states, even in the one instance when the word "God" was explicitly used, our framers did so tenuously, writing the phrase "...equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them,...".

Now, I'm neither a Theologian nor a Historian, but it seems to me that if our forefathers had intended this to be a "Christian Nation", they would have been a bit more explicit about it. What they intended, I believe, is to live and let live, and part of that means not telling a large segment of the population to simply "SHUT UP AND BE QUIET!!!" when you don't agree with them.

As for "why there is such a problem in having 'In God! We Trust' on our money and having 'God' in the Pledge of Allegiance" I would simply question why the original author thinks they should be there. Furthermore, would he or she tolerate professions of other religious viewpoints in public schools or on public currency? Would this author see a problem with "one nation under Goddess"? Would that be offensive to the author? How about you? Do you find that offensive? What about "one nation under No god"?

The whole point is that our government should neither be in the business of endorsing nor disclaiming religion.