http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_1
736392,00.html
And just so there's no misunderstanding, bill sponsor Debbie Stafford, an
Aurora Republican, now says she will amend her bill to make "In God We
Trust" sightings bilingual. One assumes that the Spanish speakers will
get the bilingual samplers for only a year, by which time they'll be more
than immersed in that old-time English-speaking religion.
There are other provisions to this bill I think you'll enjoy.
For starters, there is a requirement that the motto must be readable from
20 feet, meaning, I guess, that it can double as an eye chart. ("If you
can't see God, little Johnny, it's off to the eye doctor.")
And then, and this was an epiphany for me, there's the further
requirement that if administrators don't put the sampler/plaque on every
classroom wall within 60 days, the bill says they would face legal
action. Yes, the lawyers will descend, like locusts, like frogs, like,
well, lawyers. They will descend on helpless school systems that, in some
cases, can't even pay their own teachers, much less their own lawyers.
What's most surprising about this bill, though, is that it has actually
passed through committee and will presumably come to a vote before the
entire House.
Can someone tell me why?
I'm confused, because even if you think religion belongs in the
classroom, rather than in your local church/mosque/synagogue/
ashram/coven, do you really think hanging a sampler will convert the
faithless?
If you follow this logic, you'd have to believe that hanging E=MC2 from
the wall amounts to the same thing as teaching physics.
As far as I can tell, putting "In God We Trust" in the classroom - in a
hamhanded attempt to enforce religion - makes as much religious sense as
starting the school day singing Thank God I'm a Country Boy.
Stafford, of course, says this is not about religion - but about values,
and about our fighting men and women overseas.
We can test this. Take a quarter out of your pocket. See which value
comes to mind. When our fighting men and women look at this same quarter,
do you think they reflect on the force behind the words, or do you think
they wish they had three more quarters so they could get a Coke out of
the vending machine? (By the way, it was not until the 1950s that "In God
We Trust" was made mandatory on U.S. currency. The founding fathers must
have been busy with other stuff - like, say, building the wall between
church and state.
This bill comes three years after the State Board of Education passed its
own "In God We Trust" resolution. One of those who testified before the
House committee was Clair Orr, from the very same board of education. Orr
told the lawmakers that the motto suggests to him "a sanctuary where you
can believe anything you damn well please. It was about honoring those
who sacrificed for our freedoms."
Now, as a member of the board of education, Orr would be expected to be
able to deconstruct a four-word phrase.
And yet I think we might come up with something entirely different. To
me, "In God We Trust" means: In . . . God . . . We . . . Trust.
Nothing about believing anything you damn well please. In fact, if you
look at it closely, "In God We Trust" pretty much requires that you start
with a trust in God.
And as for honoring those fighting for our freedoms, I'm wondering which
freedom. The one that says legislators can impose their values on other
people?
The irony - and we can work on that word for weeks - is that by invoking
the current war against terrorism, you immediately move into some very
difficult territory.
The terrorists have, in our president's words, attempted to hijack their
religion. Certainly, they would impose their brand of Islamic
fundamentalism on any passing infidel head.
One of the great success stories in America is how so many different
religions are able to thrive in one society. While others fought
religious wars, we fought for freedom to believe - yes - anything we damn
well please.
There is a lesson here that fits neatly on a sampler: Don't Trust Anyone
Who Tries To Tell You Whom To Trust.
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