So... I was at Bible study tonight, and come prayer time somebody in the group said that we must pray for "In God We Trust" to stay on our money, as though all good Christians should be praying for that. It bugged me a lot.
It was presented as a need for us to pray about it because it's part of a slippery slope of persecution. I don't want to see Christians in America persecuted, but I do not think that defending In God We Trust on money is a matter of persecution. Also, I think that praying for relief from true persecution is perfectly acceptable, but where do we get off thinking that the Christian life is supposed to be cushy? Some persecution might be part of God's plan for the Christian Church in America in order to strengthen it. Not that all topics of early church prayer made it in the Bible, but the prayers from the early church recorded in the Bible seemed to focus on significantly different matters than where the government allows reference to God, let alone much more significant forms of intolerance/persecution. I hate it when Christians hold the opinion that all good Christians must go along with and pray for whatever stance the political Christian right takes, while failing to pray for so many other things that we should!
In God I do trust, and happy Thanksgiving. Let the fireworks begin.
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Well, I think that we should focus exclusively on preserving the relics of cold war Constaninism, if for no other reason, to distract us from the ways in which US foreign and domestic policy line the pockets of the very wealthy, exacerbate the problems of the poor and institutionalize xenophobia-- because Christ never really said anything about how we use our money (especially not in relation to the orphan, the widow, the stranger). He mostly cared about what was written on it.
We should change the order from "In God We Trust" to "We Trust In God". hehe
First of all, thank you Strauss for giving us something interesting to talk about. It’s been awhile.
The operative question in this conversation is one that is both simple and direct: have you been persecuted today? From where I am sitting, even though I am deeply uncomfortable with the success the current administration has had in recent years with convincing the majority of Christians in this country to endorse their policies for political (and not terribly Christian) ends, it seems as though this particular historical moment is a rather good one for living as a Christian in America. Harriet Meiers aside, business leaders, politicians and other prominent Americans openly profess Christian faith without being criticized. Professional athletes (besides Terrell Owens) routinely credit God with their successes, again without having criticism levied against them. The church is free to grow and flourish, or stagnate and recede, all without government intervention or taxation. Where, I ask you in all honesty, is this persecution?
Coye is right when he points out that some (perhaps many) of the issues Christians get all riled up about have almost nothing to do with Christianity. A case in point: there have been several recent Supreme Court challenges to having monuments to the Ten Commandments on the lawns of courthouses in this country. Christians hear this and cry foul: “Religious persecution!” they exclaim. “The founding fathers intended this and that, etc. etc.” (though how they know this is a mystery, especially since almost none of these people were Christians, but rather deists). Pat Robertson might even call for another assassination, who knows? But where did these monuments come from? Ah, I’m glad you asked. They were placed around the country as an expensive publicity stunt for Cecile B. DeMille’s epic film, “The Ten Commandments,” with Charlton Heston. Advertising. Not religion. Interesting.
Another example: that phrase, “one nation under God” has always been a part of our pledge of allegiance, right? Well, only if always means since the 50s when, in order to distinguish America from communist countries, we added it in. Again, are we talking about public expressions of Christianity here, or something else entirely? Would taking out that phrase really constitute persecution of Christians?
Here’s another question: why is it that American, Christian, white males, the most powerful, wealthy and privileged demographic group the world has ever seen, can imagine themselves as persecuted? What is the ideological function of this persecution complex? Do they… do we… even understand what the word means?
So, for me, all of this raises the question of the function of “In God We Trust” on our money. Why is it there? What does it do? What if (as Strauss’s friend fears) someday our money stopped paying lip service to a nominally Christian deity? Would its exchange value be compromised? Would it be somehow more secular? Would you feel persecuted?
I've been thinking about it, and I'm pretty sure that I'd rather the phrase NOT be on our money. Did any of the people at this meeting happen to mention who's trying to get it removed? I'd like to see what I can do to help the effort.
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