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Sunday, February 13, 2011

In Dumbfuck We Trust

Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA-4th District) is determined to put his god in our nation's public schools, but that is not enough. He also wants to send a message to all Americans that ours is a nation under his god. I realize that Rep. Forbes started his efforts to get Congress to reaffirm the absurd "In God We Trust" motto last month, but things have been heating up, and it is time to grant him the recognition he deserves.

H. Con. Res. 13 goes beyond reaffirming "In God We Trust" as the national motto of the U.S. It encourages public display of this motto in all government buildings and public schools. You can read it for yourself here. And after you have done so, I encourage you to read this letter sent by the Secular Coalition for America to the House Judiciary Committee.

Quoting from the Secular Coalition's letter:
The resolution’s passage out of the House Judiciary Committee would continue to alienate millions of Americans from their government and encroach further on the nation’s tradition of separation of church and state.
I think that Alonzo Fyfe (Atheist Ethicist) is exactly right when he characterizes the message of this resolution as follows:
WE trust in God. Do you want to be one of us? Then trust in God. Do you not trust in God? Then you are not one of us.
That is indeed what is happening here. Regardless of whether Forbes himself sees this as mere pandering or something far more sinister, the impact is divisive. As Alonzo says,
This says to the world, "Of all of the things we value - of all of the things that identify us as Americans - we hold the principle of dividing citizens into classes based on their religious beliefs to be the most important."
Defeating the proposed reaffirmation of this motto is important, but really, the motto itself needs to be relegated to the dustbin of history. Rep. Forbes may be an idiot, but we who allow this sort of thing to continue must accept at least some of the blame.
Posted by cooperlife at 12:15 PM

26 comments:

  1. VaporFebruary 13, 2011 at 12:24 PM

    Amazing, our government can't get it's shit together on important things like the economy, practical laws, immigration... but it has plenty of time to waste on bullshit that shouldn't even be on our money in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ChrisFebruary 13, 2011 at 12:47 PM

    To be reality, I don't really trust or think highly of people who are that fanatic in religion. Come out, this is 2011, where science prevails.

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  3. SuciĆ“ SanchezFebruary 13, 2011 at 1:26 PM

    Any legal challenge is going nowhere: the phrase has "lost through rote repetition any significant religious content" and "ceremonial deism" != establishment of a state church.

    A more fruitful approach might be to question the Honorable Randy Forbes why he seeks to waste Congress' time with this pathetic resolution.

    His banjo-playing constituents would be better served if he spent his time seeking to legalize same-uterus marriage.

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  4. ThemanwiththegoldeneyeballFebruary 13, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    Distractions from the real problems if you ask me.

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  5. shadiFebruary 13, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    I do not trust any candidate ever.nice blog

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  6. DaniaFebruary 13, 2011 at 2:07 PM

    Glad to see an elected official stand up for what he believes in for a change. Keep trolling yourselves with "Science explains all".

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  7. World of ZeroFebruary 13, 2011 at 2:09 PM

    I'm tired of every person with a religion thinking that you need to follow your religion or be wrong. Don't they understand that most of their religions wern't even around 5000 years ago? Also tired of athiests trying to make everyone think their is no god. It's all so pointless. You can't prove it so why not just let faith be faith?

    It's as some famous guy said: "Live everyday like their is no god. Pray every day that their is."

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  8. Major MackFebruary 13, 2011 at 3:05 PM

    HO business!

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  9. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2011 at 3:09 PM

    What has the world come to? We are going in the wrong direction.

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  10. yermolayFebruary 13, 2011 at 3:40 PM

    words are words

    i know many atheists that don't have an issue with participating in christmas and other religious holidays so why should they have a problem with this

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  11. cooperlifeFebruary 13, 2011 at 3:54 PM

    @runewake2 this isn't about making anyone believe there is no god. It's about accepting everyone right to make their own choice and not let the government favor a religious establishment.

    @yermolay Atheists celebrate Christmas for what it has become: A secular commercialized holiday for the Winter solstice. In God We Trust is a classic case of the Christians pushing their beliefs on the entire nation. If we dare tell them to follow the constitution and let people make their own choices, they accuse us of declaring war on Christianity and suppressing them.

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  12. LesFebruary 13, 2011 at 4:46 PM

    @yermolay
    you can't say that 'words are words' then critisize athiests for celebrating a commercial holiday for what it is.

    Forcing your religion on others is one of the most disgusting things you can do. It's saying that your beliefs and way of life is worth less than mine. And this comes from religions who say that all people are equal under god.

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  13. Candlej-February 13, 2011 at 4:56 PM

    this reminds me of a facebook status i saw a week ago, posted by a deeply religious girl i know. it said "why think when you can pray?? <3 <3 <3"

    i thought to myself "thats exactly what im afraid of people doing"

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  14. iammyselfFebruary 13, 2011 at 5:14 PM

    hahah i'm really digging the title

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  15. Con QuesoFebruary 13, 2011 at 6:03 PM

    This is suppose to be the "land of the free", not the "land of believe-what-we-believe-or-you're-less-worthy-than-me"

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  16. Obi-wan MikenobiFebruary 14, 2011 at 12:47 AM

    "One of us"
    "One of us"

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  17. ReghFebruary 14, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    I sometimes wonder how a dumbass gets in power to lead this once great country...

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  18. Justsayin'February 14, 2011 at 7:27 AM

    This is what they are wasting time on really?
    How about more concern with getting everyone back to work and maybe getting our troops back home.

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  19. TrelinFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    Christian politicians should realize that the idea of separation of church and state was thought up to protect Christianity, not promote atheism. If separation of church and state goes out the window then the government can mandate not only Christianity, but also specific denomination. Isn't that the reason the pilgrims emigrated to America in the first place? Because the king of England mandated that only his Christian denomination of choice was valid?

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  20. ScottDFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    I home school my kids. The school system is so fucked I would never send them to a regular school. For one they learn more and their behavior is 100x better than their friends.

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  21. Stuff that matters, stuff that don'tFebruary 14, 2011 at 8:58 AM

    Followed. Can't believe Americans even vote for these people. Actually I can, because we have retarded politicians here in England as well.

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  22. GFebruary 14, 2011 at 11:14 AM

    I think modern science is as much a religion as anything else. At least most religions started with a sound ethical basis...

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  23. Mr. RogersFebruary 14, 2011 at 2:03 PM

    ahh religion

    ReplyDelete
  24. Mister SharafFebruary 14, 2011 at 2:25 PM

    we must awake or we are doomed...

    Im BACK  >>HERE<< and  >>HERE<<

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  25. The Facts of VidyaFebruary 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM

    Sometimes it terrifys me what our children are being taught in schools.

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  26. cooperlifeFebruary 14, 2011 at 5:49 PM

    @G How is modern science a religion? It's based on facts and evidence. Every scientific theory gets peer reviewed by scientists all over the world. They aren't based on beliefs. Scientists don't lie. They even have the balls to admit that they could be wrong. Whenever new evidence emerges it's tested against the established theories and only serves to better help our true understanding of how the world works. Religion is based on the opinions of cavemen who didn't have facts and testable evidence available to them, so they made up stories that sounded good at the time. How is this at all relatable to science?

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