Most people think that the reference to "In God We Trust" is a very innocent, innocuous phrase, emblazened on our U.S. money as a tribute to the past, others as a tribute to God. What most don't know is that in the legal world, the only reason it is allowed--that is, it does not violate the Constitution, which mandates no state establishment of religion--is because it is considered a "ceremonial deism." That is, the phrase which is so commonplace on U.S. money has now become trite: a historical reference, which celebrates only the traditional ties of the founders of this nation to a belief in god. Thus, despite the great importance this phrase has to many people across the world, it only is permitted to be printed on U.S. money for its intrinsically non-religious significance.

I think this knowledge offends people of religion, just as much as much as its very presence offends people of non-monotheisitic religions or of non-religion. Unfortunately, too many short-sighted proponents of religion, see only a court victory, not the reasons behind the victory. So when you are disappointed that students at your local school cannot sing Christmas carols any more, and such a result just seems silly or you ask what is the harm? Instead rejoice. You now have the right to celebrate the individual mandates of your conscience with your family and chosen religious community. You do not have to suffer the degredation of your beliefs as something merely "historical." They mean something.

But of course, the above is only so relevant as it is true, that is, that such a phrase placed on money is indeed innocuous. Consider the following passage from page 25 of William V. Spanos' recent book, America's Shadow, An Anatomy of Empire:

[O]ne also finds this central and concentering panoptic eye figured in the Great Seal of the United States, which also appears on the American one-dollar bill: a pyramid enclosed by a circle, at the apex of which is an all-seeing and all-encompaassing eye (and its bright rays) and at the base of which, the Roman numerals MDCCLXXVI (the entire temporal history of the Christian world over which its providentially ordained commanding gaze presides). This resonant image bears the Virgilian mottoes ANNUIT COEPTIS (God has favored our beginnings) at the top and, especially pertinent for the purposes of this study, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM (New World Order) at the bottom...This [all-encompassing eye] was, of course, the "diagram of power," according to Foucault, that became the structural model of the modern disciplinary society.

This seems to leave a discrepency between the words of some founders, such as Thomas Jefferson, who argued vigorously for a "wall of separation" between religion and state, and others, who would have the Christian empire extend its roots into the fibers of this country. The idea that is America is a truly great idea: that all are created equal, and that all may live their lives as they choose, so long as they hurt no other in doing so.

Religion can be a great strength to many people. But this can only be true when one follows one's own heart or conscience to whole-heartedly embrace that religion. What faithful congregation wants people forced to follow them? Hopefully none. If that is so, then those of true faith must remember that when they turn to their legislators to ask him or her to outlaw things that go against their faith, regarding topics of prayer in school, public religious displays, abortion, and teaching creationism in a science class: we must remember to respect those with different beliefs. It is not fair for the state to practice a tyranny of the majority. For as the Supreme Court of the United States has emphatically declared on more than one occasion, most recently in 2000: "fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no election.” See Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe .

Doesn't it make more sense to simply love your neighbor, even though he or she may have different beliefs than you? Do we really believe as citizens in a free American society that some of us, even a majority of us, have the right to tell people what to believe, and what moral code they can live by, beyond simply the secular norms that define a civilized society? Because what comes next? Shall we ban pork as a sinful food? Will we outlaw all work on Sundays? Will we reinstate prohibition? America is no theocracy. The Founding Fathers could have set up this country as such. Yet, with Protestantism fresh in their blood, they knew well the corrupting potential of a Theocratic Empire. Indeed, most Protestants railed against the first Catholic president of this nation, John F. Kennedy, believing he would turn this country over to the pope.

Have we come full circle? Will we deliver our nation straight to god and cut out the middle man of this equation by cutting out the singular political figurehead? Does the formless mass of Christian bodies accomplish what a Pope or Holy Emperor could not? But is it any different?

Perhaps instead of such nonsense, the Christian majority should dedicate their lives to goodness, rather than screaming out to others how one should live one's life. Remember the words of Jesus, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone." John 8:7. Because those that believe in this god, must surely believe that he knows the difference between living your life according to Christ, and in others not doing so. As Jesus also said, "when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." Matt. 6:5.

Let the state worry about the multiplicity of beliefs inhering to its citizens, and to legislate accordingly, taking into account all of the nation's beliefs. You and yours take care of your beliefs. Because only by working together, living together, and accepting each other, will we all find peace and harmony.

Otherwise we'll have more blood and death, harbinged by brimstone: modern Crusades, people that preposterously invite and justify natural disasters to "hotbeds of sin" like New Orleans, and suicide bombers looking for the next "Great Satan" lurking in shopping malls and wedding parties. But if that's what your faith dictates, then I'm sure you'll get it.