Is America "One Nation Under God?"

To answer the question posed by Patrick J. Buchanan’s Op-Ed “Are we God’s country, or not?” (Friday) I would refer him to the first sentence of the Constitution, which begins with “We the People…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Mr. Buchanan claims that this is a Christian nation, but God is not mentioned anywhere in our Constitution. In fact, the United States was the first nation in history to set up a secular government. Our Founding Fathers, many of whom were religious, must have had good reasons for building “a wall of separation between church and state,” as described by President Jefferson. Perhaps they knew a thing or two about history. They knew that a government that supports one God must inevitably deny others. They had experienced religious intolerance and war firsthand and did not want their newly formed nation torn apart.

This is not “one nation under God,” because those words were not part of the Pledge of Allegiance until Congress inserted them in 1954. Furthermore, the slogan “In God We Trust” did not appear on paper currency until 1956. Our original U.S. motto is “E Pluribus Unum,” which means “out of many, one.” This motto, chosen by the likes of Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, celebrates plurality and is completely secular. Our government’s unconstitutional endorsement of God in the 1950s clearly moved against the intentions of our Founding Fathers.

Mr. Buchanan also claims that the Supreme Court is somehow trying to “de-Christianize” America (which, as stated before, has never been a Christian nation) and establish “state atheism as our national religion.” First, atheists have no belief in the supernatural and therefore are nonreligious. Atheists reject all religions, which is the point of atheism. Second, the First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” America is bound to religious neutrality and cannot establish any “state religion,” such as Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Mormonism, Islam, Satanism, Scientology, Buddhism, Taoism, agnosticism, atheism, etc. The Constitution guarantees the right of all citizens to believe, or not believe, whatever they wish.

It is disturbing that Mr. Buchanan supports the antics of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. He was rightly suspended for breaking the laws that he swore to uphold. He is free to believe in God, to go to church, to teach his children about the Bible, to shout his faith from the rooftops, but he is not free to force his beliefs on the public. Justice Moore covertly installed a religious monument inside the courthouse rotunda, which is public property paid for by the tax payers and visited by citizens of every race, culture and religious background. What would he say to those citizens who find the Ten Commandments offensive yet still must do business at the courthouse? He does not seem to care that such a display would make many people feel like second class citizens. Obviously, he is more interested in promoting his own religion than serving the people of Alabama.

Mr. Buchanan’s call for a “counter-revolution to overthrow this rule of judges” exposes his enmity to basic civil liberties. Like Justice Moore, he would like to impose his personal religious beliefs upon the citizens of a free democracy. Federal court Judge Myron Thompson and Justices David Souter, John Paul Stevens, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsberg should be commended for doing their duty to protect the law and refuse the demands of extremists such as Justice Moore and Pat Buchanan.

Our Founding Fathers wisely made provisions to keep government and religion separate. Their construction of our secular government was a milestone in the history of nations and can be credited for much of our prosperity. Mr. Buchanan’s desire to establish a theocracy and alienate dissenting opinions is truly un-American.