My Elected Representative Does Not Understand What Religious Freedom Is

My Congressional Representative, Lee Terry, posted this statement about Hobby Lobby's Supreme Court case.

Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE) today made the following statement on the oral arguments before the Supreme Court today on the Hobby Lobby case in the support of religious freedom:

“Today, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments on behalf of individuals who under Obamacare feel that their constitutional right to religious freedom has been violated.

“Our nation’s motto is ‘In God We Trust’ and it couldn’t be more clear. Every single American should have the freedom to practice their faith and protect their conscious separate from cumbersome federal mandates. I want to add my voice in support of these Americans who have unjustly been coerced by an overreaching Administration and forced to choose between their God and their government.”

I'll ignore the many issues just in his invocation (pun intended) of "In God We Trust", or his less than subtle presumption that all Americans believe in a god, for now.  That's another fight for another day.

The issue for today is Hobby Lobby, who is demanding the right to ignore the ACA mandate to cover birth control within health insurance for its employees.  They are demanding that the religion of their owners limit the healthcare options of their employees.

To illustrate the problem with that, here's something from Keith Lowell Jensen.

That is not religion freedom.  That is religious oppression.  It's a violation of the religious freedom of every employee of Hobby Lobby.  No one should be forced to find another job, or go without proper healthcare, just because their employer doesn't want to follow the law.

From the comments of Terry's statement:

Hobby Lobby is not requesting religious freedom.  They're demanding special privilege to ignore the law.

By supporting Hobby Lobby, Lee Terry is supporting religious oppression. Not religious freedom. Religious freedom would be everyone following the same laws, regardless of their religion. Religious freedom is NOT everyone but Christians following the law.

My representation in Washington DC needs a grade school level civics lesson.

Christians Prove My Point About Secular Money

I've recently taken to saying that instead of contesting Ten Commandments monuments on public land, we should find a way to get Christians to fight with each other over which version^[1] is up.  Some Christians have recently done a good job of illustrating why I think that would work when one found something on their money that they did not like^[2].

The obvious guess is that this was done by a Muslim, but whoever did it appears to also have a problem with "In God We Trust" being on our money.  I'm one of those atheists who marks out "In God We Trust" from his money^[3], but I like this because it makes my point even better than I do with the Sharpie because of how much the Christians hate Allah being on their money.

These are starting to show up all around our country!

After dinner she took a $1 dollar bill out of her purse and displayed it on the table. Underneath the words "In God We Trust" someone had stamped the dollar bill in red ink---

NO GOD BUT ALLAH.

We asked her where she had gotten this dollar bill.  She said it was part of her change in Alamosa , CO .

We took a picture of her dollar bill. If anyone tries to give you one of these dollar bills as change, please refuse it and ask them to give you a dollar bill that has not been defaced.

Send this on to everyone you can. God bless our USA !

And, He'd better bless it quickly before what we know and love is forever gone!

They don't like someone else's religion being pushed on their money.  And, of course, some particularly despise Islam on their money.

Pity that so few of them get it.  The problem they have with Allah being on money is exactly why their god shouldn't be on it either.  At least one about a thousand people who found the post get it, even if it's less than the amount who liked the Islamophobic comment.

And that's why I only cross out the unconstitutional phrase instead of putting something atheist on it.  Because I'm not a hypocrite like the Christians whining about the wrong god being on their money.

It's supposed to be secular, with absolutely no mention of god, and this shit is why.

(Thanks to Meagan for the link.)

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1.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments#Enumeration_of_the_Ten_Commandments
2.  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4465897337273&set=a.1073276483872.2011172.1584985366&type=1&ref=nf
3.  http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-i-carry-sharpie.html

Petition To Restore The National Motto (Or Moto)

"In God We Trust" on our money is a minor thing to many.  Even many atheists don't care much about it.  I'm not among those people^[1].  It's something I care quite a bit about, because I don't think it's an inconsequential matter.  It's too often used by Christians as their evidence of the completely false claim that we're a Christian nation.

Getting it fixed is not an easy task, but persistence on such matters is what gets things done.  It's why I carry the Sharpie (and have successfully gotten other to do the same).  And it's why I've signed this petition on whitehouse.gov^[2].

Please restore the original moto "E Pluribus Unum" as well as placing in on currency again.

The current moto added to currency in 1864 and as the moto in 1965 only serves as to be a decisive point between different religions or the lack there of. The original moto meaning One From Many is much more fitting and celibates the cultural diversity that make the United States so unique.

Additionally this is a clear violation of the First Amendment which: "prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion"

Sure, it's got some spelling errors, and it's the wrong place to make such a request since it would require an act of Congress.  And, even if it were something within the President's power, it's not something we could realistically expect from Barack Obama^[3].

But that's not the point.  The point is to keep pushing to restore our country to the secular nation it was founded as instead of the place where Christians are so comfortable pushing their religion into government they pass laws to allow people to say "Merry Christmas"^[4] even though it wasn't at all illegal.  I'd rather be a secular nation than a nation that elects people into office who oppose abortion because they think fetuses masturbate^[5].  Little things like this can actually make a difference if done often enough, by enough of us.

If enough people signed these things, even the terribly written ones like this one^[6], they could have as much impact as atheist monuments^[7].  After all, these petitions do sometimes make news^[8].  Even for non-serious requests^[9].

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1.  http://aparticularblogbyaparticularatheist.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-i-carry-sharpie.html
2.  https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/restore-national-moto-e-pluribus-unum/58JXzNBB
3.
4.  http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/14/18959929-freedom-from-religion
5.  http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/06/michael-burgess-fetus-masturbation/66345/
6.  We already know you don't need good grammar to get what you want from Washington.
7.  http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/north-fla-county-atheist-monument-19343424#.UcEqFPnVC8A
8.  http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/10/18886451-pardon-edward-snowden-petition-seeks-white-house-response
9.  http://theweek.com/article/index/238746/the-white-houses-nerd-delighting-death-star-petition-response

Why I Carry A Sharpie

When the United States of America was founded, it was given the motto "E pluribus unum"^[1].  Out of many, one^[2].  It's a beautifully simple phrase to describe what America was all about.  Thirteen colonies united to stand up to the oppression of a monarchy, to become one united nation.  And after earning their Independence, they created the world's first secular nation.  A nation that valued freedom and justice, even despite our recent many failures in both arenas.

What dollar bills looked before 1957

We remained united for over a century and a half.  Perhaps it's fitting that the Civil War is when the eventual end of "E pluribus unum" was put into motion^[3].

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.

In other words, "In God We Trust" on our money is explicitly Christian in origin.

Even as a child, I knew it was wrong that our money referenced a god.  I would have also stopped saying the Pledge of Allegiance^[4] too, if I hadn't already stopped because it was so creepy^[5].

Our government is supposed to be entirely neutral on the subject of religion.  This is what ensures our Freedom of Religion, including my Freedom From Religion.  I was able to figure that out long before I ever learned of Teddy Roosevelt's thoughts on the matter^[6].

I hold that in this country there must be complete severance of Church and State; that public moneys shall not be used for the purpose of advancing any particular creed; and therefore that the public schools shall be non-sectarian and no public moneys appropriated for sectarian schools. (Address, New York, October 12, 1915).

This is also why when I do mark my money, which is always, I make a point to never make it specifically atheist.  That would be just as wrong as what our government is currently doing with the money.  For example, I'm against stuff like this^[7].

No one's religion, or lack thereof, has any place in anything to do with our government.  Our government is supposed to be secular.  Not Christian.  Not Muslim.  Not atheist.  Our government should have nothing to say on the matter whatsoever.  Secular.  Instead, we overreacted to "atheist" Communism during the Cold War and forced it back onto our money and made it our national motto^[8].

Today, the "America is a Christian nation" crowd regularly uses that motto, and all the other ways they've forced their god into our society^[9][10] as a way to justify that ridiculous claim.  They've rewritten history enough that many teenagers don't realize reality^[11].  Its presence on our money is not without consequence.

And that is why I carry a Sharpie^[12].

I prefer the Sharpie because it's portable.  But another option is the stamp a friend had made for a few of us using VistaPrint^[13] and this image^[14][15].

I'm not foolish enough to think the relatively small amount of bills I mark will solve the problem of religion being forced into our government, but I simply cannot accept the alternative of leaving my money broken when I know I can fix it.

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1.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum
2.  http://greatseal.com/mottoes/unum.html
3.  http://www.treasury.gov/about/education/Pages/in-god-we-trust.aspx
4.  http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/usconstitution/a/pledgehist.htm
5.  http://youtu.be/618U-_8o31k
6.  http://archive.adl.org/nr/exeres/9ecd82de-51a2-4779-a95d-d047eaafa37d?Multi_page_sections=sHeading_3
7.  http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/product1719.html
8.  http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/05/16/communism-atheism-and-placing-in-god-we-trust-on-the-u-s-dollar/
9.  http://aclj.org/in-god-we-trust/complete-idiots-guide-religious-heritage (ACLJ is the right wing's response to the ACLU)
10.  http://youtu.be/YXtIm4m0k8I
11.  http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wwjtd/2013/03/a-letter-to-kenzie/
12.  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=367391293373651&set=a.219436308169151.47488.219432208169561&type=1
13.  http://www.vistaprint.com
14.  http://www.thinkatheist.com/photo/dollar-bill-stamp-covers-in-god-we-trust
15.  http://www.thinkatheist.com/photo/freedom-money?context=album&albumId=1982180%3AAlbum%3A1102836