July 25th 2009
God sentiments at U.S. Capitol Visitors’ Center
By Marie Alena Castle
The plan to etch “In God We Trust” and the “under God” version of the Pledge of Allegiance on the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington D.C. is not harmless civic piety. Yes, it is an unconstitutional establishment of religion, as the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s lawsuit charges, but in some ways it is far worse. It is as much an establishment of bigotry as Jim Crow laws, differing certainly in degree, but not in kind.
This motto and phrase became established as propaganda weapons during the Cold War. The enemy was the Soviet Union but the attack was aimed at loyal Americans who happened to be atheists. This supposedly connected them with Russian communism, although Christian Americans were never connected with Christian Nazi Germany.
The Congressional Record of that time shows clearly that hatred of atheists was the overriding motivation for putting “under God” in the pledge and “In God We Trust” on our money. The level of hostility was high. For example, when Rep. Louis C. Rabaut introduced the “under God” bill in the House on Feb. 12, 1954, he said, “… You may argue from dawn to dusk about differing political, economic, and social systems, but the fundamental issue which is the unbridgeable gap between America and Communist Russia is a belief in Almighty God.” He then went on to charge atheism with being the root of “the evil weed” of communism, materialism and political dictatorship. He said, “An atheistic American, … is a contradiction in terms” and affirmed that only “under God” can there be “liberty and justice for all.”
There were many such statements from legislators and public officials — including President Eisenhower — extending even into civil rights. During debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1963, the following amendment was offered: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, it shall not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to hire and employ any person because of said person’s atheistic practices and beliefs.” The amendment was debated on February 8, 1964, in the House, where it passed 137 to 98, but it failed in the Senate.
There is a strong legal precedent for keeping the Visitors Center free of divisive and bigoted religious sentiments in the Lawrence v. Texas sodomy decision. In that case, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor based her ruling for reversal of Alabama’s anti-sodomy statute in part on it being “a bare desire to harm an unpopular group.” The same rationale can be applied to the current controversy. Most Americans today would be embarrassed to know that what they want etched on the Visitors Center walls stems directly from a deliberate, mean-spirited attack on decent citizens who happened to be nonreligious. To add those words — and at a cost of $100,000! — would be an insult, not just to nonbelievers, but to every fair-minded believer as well.
