Ryan NorrisKelly Finlan
News Editor
I don’t like being told what to do.
I don’t like being told where to go, what to say and, especially, what to think. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but I sincerely think government and society combined are a giant brainwashing system, out to rid the nation of everything unique, novel or otherwise in discordance with the norm.
We, as a nation, are expected to believe in God, a theoretical higher power that rules omnipresently, seeing all, hearing all, and intervening when the mood strikes him (or her). I’m not saying that I don’t. I don’t necessarily believe in the sanctity of organized religion, but God and me are tight. I do not, however, appreciate the dogma, mythology and tradition that I am bombarded with every day.
It’s inescapable despite the fact that there is a very distinct clause in the constitution, which separates the government from religious affiliation. (God bless Thomas Jefferson, no pun intended.) I find it personally and generally offensive.
“In God we trust.” Offensive.
“God bless America.” Offensive.
Religious posters in post offices all over the South. Offensive.
The mother of all distasteful religious projections is the stature of the 10 commandments outside the West Chester courthouse. How are we to expect any kind of justice to take place in a building so obviously skewed to favor those believing in Judeo-Christian faiths? It’s deplorable, and people fought to save it.
Can you remember going a day in grade school without saying the Pledge of Allegiance? I remember asking a teacher why we had to say “one nation under God,” every morning in a public school. I had to sit in the hallway for the rest of the class period. It’s not like I called my teacher a cultist sheep, though I may have been thinking it at the time.
Has the separation of church and state been undermined by groupthink, or were our forefathers just talking about those “churches” that give creedence to God, in which case, what about Jehovah’s Witnesses? They believe in God, but they’re not allowed to sing the national anthem or any other national credo. They were clearly not protected.
What it comes down to is that idea that a country which prides itself on being a tolerant land of supposed equality and the freedom to be unique, novel and discordant constantly and consistently reinforces the fact that we are a “Nation under God.”
Nina Scimenes
Staff Writer
“In God we trust,” a phrase that we look at every time we spend money. Yet Americans tend to take this for granted.
There is no reason why Americans should feel ashamed to express their religion. Everyone should be entitled to express themselves freely. In fact that is one of our rights. There are people who came to America for that sole purpose.
I am not a history expert but, we all know that the Pilgrims who settled in early America wanted to be free from the Church of England.
Since America is the so-called melting pot of hundreds of different religions it was not wrong to choose “In God we trust” to be on the face of our currency. God is a non-discriminative term because it is not singling out any one religion. Most religions worship a god.
Personally, I think that being able to accept other people’s religions is only humane. Accepting other views doesn’t mean that you have to agree or think the same way. Everyone is different in many aspects, from the color of their skin, to their personal beliefs. To disregard these differences is to be ignorant, and that needs to be avoided.
Of course the government wants to be controlling and try to keep religion in the home, but that’s impossible. Looking back at the national tragedy of Sept.11, prayer and references to religion could be found on every street corner. The “wall of prayer” was something that still stands out the most in my mind. This was a wall that had pictures of lost loved ones with contact information in high hopes that they survived the crash of two airplanes taking out the Twin Towers.
I will never forget walking around the streets of New York City shortly after these unexplainable events happened and seeing memorials everywhere. The memorials acted as a reminder to me that life can end at the drop of a dime. Having faith in something that is bigger than you makes hard times go by with more ease. Displaying your faith should not be condemned.
As a result of the shaking of stabiltity of lives the fateful morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Patriot Day was declared a national holiday by the U.S. government.
It should not take a tragedy for the media and government to be able to recognize that there is something more powerful than us alone. Or is this just another marketing tactic to get our money? (Which says “In God we trust)
So what exactly does, “In God we trust” mean to you?
Posted to the web by Ryan Norris
