While I was yelling at the radio this morning, I heard a piece that NPR did on a non-binding resolution sponsored by House Representative Randy Forbes (Religion-VA), reaffirming “In God We Trust” as our national motto. Setting aside questions about this being the best use of the House’s time, this resolution is important because the last time that the motto was reaffirmed was in the Senate in 2006 (apparently mottos have low self-esteem and require frequent reaffirmation).
Forbes was quoted as stating:
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will have the same opportunity to reaffirm our national motto and directly confront a disturbing trend of inaccuracies and omissions, misunderstandings of church and state, rogue court challenges, and efforts to remove God from the public domain by unelected bureaucrats. As our nation faces challenging times, it is appropriate for Members of Congress and our nation – like our predecessors – to firmly declare our trust in God, believing that it will sustain us for generations to come.
Whew, well that should put the matter to rest.
One disturbing example that Representative Forbes cited was a speech President Obama delivered at the University of Indonesia in which he stated that our national motto was E Pluribus Unum, which set some sphincters a’twitching on Capitol Hill.
What got me cackling was that NPR closed the piece by stating that the national motto may be offensive to those who do not, in fact, trust in God. I’ve got to use that line. “It’s not that I don’t believe in God, I just don’t trust the bastard.”