The unspoken debate
By Tom Quiner
Carved into the wall in the nation's Capitol are the words: "In God We Trust."
Here’s what you couldn’t see at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address by President Obama: carved in the wall above his head as he spoke were these proud words:
“In God We Trust.”
The President dishonored these words when he said:
“We are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea — the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny.”
That is not the singular idea upon which this nation was built. The singular idea was stated clearly in the Declaration of Independence. It proclaimed that each person has fundamental rights that flow from God which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Fundamental, God-given rights were the stated cornerstone of America.
The president delivered his speech in the nation’s capital. As spoke, he could see across the room a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments. Elsewhere in the Capitol, religious themes were expressed in magnificent artwork. The Embarkation of the Pilgrims immortialized their day of prayer and fasting.
Discovery of the Mississippi by Desoto shows a praying monk as a crucifix is placed on the ground. The Baptism of Pocahontas pays tribute to this central Christian sacrament.
May I ask you a question? Why is okay to invoke God in the nation’s capitol, but not in our schools? Why have the courts said the Ten Commandments aren’t fit our kids, but they’re okay for our Congressman?
The removal of God from the public square was never intended by the Founding Fathers. How do I know? Because they’re the ones who put God there. They built this nation on Judeo-Christian principles.
Without God, anything is possible, like 40 million abortions, like same-sex marriage.
Some conservatives say that there are other more pressing issues for us to worry about like crushing national debt. That’s a big issue, I agree. But if you strip away a nation’s value system, you don’t know who you are anymore. And then we cease to be America.
America’s value system was built around God. It says so right on the wall overlooking the President as he gave his state of the union address.
In God we trust.
“The idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny” sounds like liberty/pursuit of happiness to me.
I simply reject the notion that is now taught that America is a secular country. I reject the operative philosophy of a separation of God and state. Christians, Jews, and Muslims are united in their embrace of the Ten Commandments. What a learning opportunity!
This is a tough one…I teach in a public school, although an unconventional one I will agree. Our school is “virtual” and our kids have their lessons at home. There is no shortage of religion in our history curriculum. Our students learn a great deal about history, beginning with the ancients in 1st grade, and covering all the world’s major religions. Of course, since the students are learning at home, parents would have the freedom to omit any of the content. As a Christian, I wouldn’t dream of omitting any information about the world religions with my own kids, as it is critical to a good education in history, as well as the understanding of different people. However, since I also teach my kids at home I am free to alter the context of lessons by changing a few words such as, “this is what they believe, and this is what we know to be true.”
The fact of the matter is that there are different world religions, and they are represented in our own country today, which is not against our nation’s founding principles. How do you feel these should be incorporated into our public schools? When I taught in a public brick and mortar school there was no “history” curriculum. We instead had “social studies” which was sadly lacking any real substance, and we hardly had time to get to the subject anyway. Of course we didn’t have “religion” or “Bible” in the curriculum, and I have to say I don’t think it would have been appropriate to teach only Christianity in our state run schools.
My daughter attends a Christian co-op for homeschooled children, and even here I am cautious about what she learns about Christianity, because even as Christians we can’t agree on everything (she knows this, from what we have taught her). I want her to learn her religion at home, from her parents. What I do value very much from this co-op learning environment, is that Christian values are reinforced and God is not erased from her day. He is very much a part of it. This is absolutely not true in brick and mortar public schools. (Of course God is always with us, so I don’t mean this in a literal sense).
So back to the question, “why is it not okay to invoke God in our public schools?”. Maybe I am too much a product of public education and public school teaching, but I cannot imagine the ten commandments in a public school classroom. I do think that students can still learn about right and wrong, and values, without them being posted, but I am not sure that they do in all schools. What is the answer? I don’t know, but as for me and my house, we will learn at home.