I am starting a petition drive to demand that Congress tell us which God we were put under in 1954. We also want Congress to inform us of our duties to the God that Congress placed over us. Who will join me?
You two are doing a great job keeping this conversation civil. I commend you. My two cents: It doesn't matter what the Founders believed or what laws they enacted or refrained from enacting at the time the nation began. The only thing that matters is what the eight men and one woman on the U.S. Supreme Court believe, today. The Court gets to say "what the law is." -- Marbury v. Madison. So, if you want the status quo, then you want to elect a Democrat to the White House in 2008, because Justice Stevens is really old and he will not likely last out the next Presidency (he's probably just waiting to see who's elected before he retires). And, if you want Christianity to become more dominant in the legal affairs of the nation than it is currently, then vote Republican, because that will almost certainly swing the Court exactly where you want it to go.
Those are my views exactly. In the long run the American people will probably have the type of religious liberty they want. I am disappointed that they want "under God" in the Pledge and "In God We Trust" on the coins. However, I am delighted that proposals such as the one in Missouri to declare Christianity the state religion received nothing but rejection and ridicule.
This isn't western europe. There is a high percentage of Christians still and the New Age has grown incredibly. Americans are a very religious people. And the recent immigrant influx has not changed that significantly. Latinos, for example, tend to average about a quarter evangelical Christians and many are Catholic as well. I think a significant majority of Americans have no problem with "under God" and "in God we trust"...
That saddens me because it means they reject the exclusive and absolute jurisdiction of Christ over their religion.
You are making some interesting assumptions here. You assume, for example, that if there is a God that He objects to "In God we trust" on our money. How come?
That God exists is self-evident. He objects because he claims exclusive and absolute legislative authority over his religion, his kingdom and his church. He is a jealous God. Thus, it stands to reason that he would not like the U. S. Congress or any human authority trespassing upon his jurisdiction. How many times in the history of our species has God ever requested a civil government to assist him in the propagation of his Gospel?
I don't see how acknowledgement of God in oaths, legal decrees and monuments violates anyone's rights except the hard core atheist. Are you concerned about the materialists' rights? Is that what all this is about?