Do you beleive in God?
By jbrooks0127
@jbrooks0127 (2324)
United States
February 25, 2007 3:25pm CST
NBC did a poll that had the highest response that they have ever had for one of thier polls.
The question ask was....
Should we keep the words, "In God we Trust" in the Pledge of Allegiance?
86% voted to keep it.
14% voted to not keep it.
My question to you is what do you beleive?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@lonnieN (428)
• United States
25 Feb 07
yes we should keep "In GOD we turst" on our coins and "One nation under GOD" in our pledge!! Since GOD is the center of the universe. And since HE blesses those nations that serve HIM we should definately keep HIM as the center of our nation!!
@omnithought (199)
• United States
26 Feb 07
That sounds like it's bordering on fascism.
What's wrong with letting people believe what they like at home and at their places of worship, but keeping the public realm religiously neutral?
@omnithought (199)
• United States
25 Feb 07
"In God We Trust" isn't in the Pledge of Allegiance. It's on money.
@jbrooks0127 (2324)
• United States
26 Feb 07
You are absolutly right. This was mistated. However the threat of taking God out of the Pledge is also there.
Thank you for pointing out this error.
@jbrooks0127 (2324)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Yes....you are quite right that this government was formed so that there would be the seperation of church and state. It proved to be a sound form of goverment because it excluded noone.
I again wish to thank everyone that has posted facts. My question wsa ill formed but I had no idea that it would turn into such contraversary. Perhaps I should have and in the future you can better beleive I will not be posting anything about religion or government.
I THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR POSTS.
@lecanis (16647)
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
27 Feb 07
I think you're being too hard on yourself. Sure, you needed a little more information, but it was a valid discussion topic. And if you think this is serious flaming going on, you haven't seen any. (Well, okay, I was a little rude to person who apparently didn't actually read the post.)
Don't sweat it so much.
@omnithought (199)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Many of the writings of some of the founding fathers state the opposite, as does a certain legal document called the Treaty of Tripoli, which was penned by the founding fathers. It was ratified and represents America in a very legal and binding way. It says:
"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded onthe Christian religion..."
Also, many of the founding fathers were Deists, not Christians. There are volumes upon volumes of historical documents to support this. Sorry, the idea of America being founded as a Christian nation is factually false.
True freedom means freedom for religious and non-religious alike.
And, "without god we don't have anything"? Yes we do. We have people, and love and reason and science and charity and everything humanity has always had.
I understand your desire to "save" the nation, but too many people border on fascism with their beliefs, and that's not good for anyone.
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
25 Feb 07
Not being an American, maybe I shouldn't comment on this discussion, but I would like to see the words retained. More than that, I would like to see the governments honouring the words. How can they say this and then ban prayers and Christian education in schools?
1 person likes this
@jbrooks0127 (2324)
• United States
26 Feb 07
It is very interesting that you take this stance when your not American. Thank you so much for this. I ask these same questions as to how our court system will follow so few and ignore so many. The United Sates was founded with the belief in God...how ever we may choose to see him.
Thank you very much for your comment.
@lecanis (16647)
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
26 Feb 07
"In God We Trust" is on currency.
"One nation under God" is in the Pledge of Allegiance.
I don't think we need either of these phrases where they are right now. My reasoning is simple: freedom of religion. It is ridiculous for there to be phrases specifically relating to religion on our money, in our pledge of allegiance, if we claim to have freedom of religion.
Not every American believes in "God". Or in any god. That doesn't make us any less American, nor should it.
@jbrooks0127 (2324)
• United States
26 Feb 07
There is no threat to you being patriotic because you don't beleive in God. This nation was founded with the basic religion being christian. So much so that our founders chose to place his name throughout our government offices as well as our money and our pledge.
To have people come along now and change all that because they do not beleive makes no sense to me. We are a people who are free to beleive anything we want and what our founders did not only did not threaten that but gaurenteed it.
We as a nation have come far from where we started and it is not a good thing. Not just from a religion standpoint but our basic principals.
While I mistated what is in the Pledge of Allegiance it does not detract from the fact that on this issue the minority seem to rule. And that is a very scary thing. For if the majority will not stand up and say enough, where indeed will it end.
@lecanis (16647)
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
26 Feb 07
According to the United States Department of the Treasury, "In God We Trust" was added to coins during the Civil War. It's a well known fact that "Under God" was added to the pledge during the McCarthy era as part of that madness.
Therefore, these are not "original" to the founding fathers. If you want to argue that having "God" references everywhere was their wish, then argue it with ones that did start with them and not later.
Freedom of religion is part of what makes the U.S. what it is.
@omnithought (199)
• United States
25 Feb 07
If we keep "God" in the pledge of allegiance, then in order to respect everyone's religious freedom, we'll have to include Allah, Pan, Krishna, Buddha, Amon-Ra, Thor, Wotan, and thousands of other gods. Since we can't obviously do that, the only fair thing would be not to have any.
Let people worship whatever they want, but to push one religion above all others in any way is nothing short of totalitarian. I don't care how much people believe they are right, we can't have true freedom of religion unless we include all of them equally.
@lecanis (16647)
• Murfreesboro, Tennessee
26 Feb 07
Just because it's better than living in a country run by a dictator doesn't mean it's ideal. Our country isn't perfect, and there's nothing wrong with working to improve it.
As for pretending the "God" refers to your religion, what if you don't worship any god at all? And how many people would I offend if I stood up and said the pledge using "Goddess" rather than "God" or starting naming specific deities?
1 person likes this
@marzenna (253)
•
26 Feb 07
I just can't belive how narrow minded and arogant Christians can be. I do appologize to all Christians who do not deserve what I said. I always respect other peoples opinion but hate intolerance. How on Earth can you reserve the rights to be the only true part of the society! I hope that one day you will get the message that the tolerance take you further then arogance.
1 person likes this
@successcmc (107)
• United States
2 Mar 07
The prophets have taught us the God is the almighty ruler of the universe. Alma, a Book of Mormon prophet, wrote, "All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and also all of the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator". (Alma 30:40). We can look up at the sky at night and have an idea of what Alma meant. There are millons of stars and planets all in perfect order. They did not get there by chance. We can see the work of God in the heavens and on the earth. The many beautiful plants, the many kinds of animals, the mountains, the rivers, the clouds that bring us rain and snow- all these testify to us that there is a God. Through his Son, Jesus Christ. He organized this world and gave it form, motion, and life. He filled the air and the water with living things. He covered the hills and plains with all kind of animal life. He gave to us day and night, summer and winter, seedtime and harvest. He made man in his own image to be a ruler over his other creations (see Genesis 1:26-27)
