Weekly Poll: Should Religious Mottoes Be Allowed?
Weekly Poll: Should Religious Mottoes Be Allowed? Thursday November 5, 2009 A number of governments in the United States have had religious mottoes. The motto of the state of Ohio, for example, is ‘With God All Things Are Possible.’ The National Motto is itself religious: ‘In God We Trust.’ Should governments be allowed to adopt theological declarations as secular mottoes? The problem with religious mottoes is that they given an official stamp of approval and even endorsement to religious ideas or beliefs. This sends the message that people who hold those beliefs are insiders, favored, and privileged while those who don’t are diminished in the eyes of the state. It’s true that adopting a motto and putting it on money is a legitimate legislative activity, but that can’t possibly mean that any chosen motto is completely legitimate. What if Congress chose “In Jesus We Trust” for the national motto and put it on the money? Would that be a secular national motto? Would that be a legitimate
