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Originally Posted by porkfriedrice
While we're at it...America is not founded upon judeo-christian principles. It's founded upon the principles of freedom of religion and separation of church and state.
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Just FYI, it wasn't until the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, after the Civil War, that the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment was applicable to the states. Prior to that time, while the Federal government was constitutionally forbidden from establishing a particular church as the state church, state governments were not so forbidden, unless their own constitutions contained a similar provision.
The Congregational Church was not disestablished in Connecticut until 1818, and although Massachusetts
de jure disestablished the Congregational Church in 1780, it was not
de facto disestablished until 1833, when the laws requiring every man to belong to a church and giving churches the power of taxation over members were repealed.
At the time the US Constitution was adopted, the overriding concern was not the complete disestablishment of any church. Rather, the overriding concern was that decisions regarding establishment or disestablishment should be made by the states, not by the federal government.
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Or the fact that In God We Trust wasn't added to money or the pledge of allegiance until the 50s I believe. I'm not even American and I know this!
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"In God We Trust" was not made the official national motto until 1956. However as far as money goes, the motto first appeared on the two-cent coin in 1864, under general authority given by Congress for the Mint Director and the Secretary of the Treasury to develop and approve of designs for coins. (There had been a fair amount of sentiment expressed that the motto be placed on the coin as the Civil War progressed.) It was in 1873 that Congress specifically said that the Secretary of the Treasury "may cause the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to be inscribed on such coins as shall admit of such motto."
It was used off and on on various coins for a while after that, but every penny since 1909, every dime since 1916, every gold coin or silver dollar coin, half-dollar coin, and quarter-dollar coins since 1908, and every nickel since 1938 has had it. It was not added to paper money until 1957.
Just trying to keep the info straight.
Hybrid Mode
