Posted at 4:50 PM ET, 07/ 7/2009
A Little Legislative Intervention on the Almighty’s Behalf
By Ben Pershing
On Monday night, the Senate passed a bill to spend more than $3 billion on congressional operations. The measure would boost funding for entities ranging from the Library of Congress to the Government Accountability Office and — most importantly, to some — bringing God to Capitol Hill.During consideration of the appropriations bill, the Senate approved by voice vote an amendment from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) “to direct the Architect of the Capitol to engrave the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag and the National Motto of ‘In God We Trust’ in the Capitol Visitor Center.” The chamber quickly agreed to DeMint’s request and moved along, but to him and other critics, the amendment’s adoption represented a victory in their war against the alleged secularization of the visitors’ center.
As Capitol Briefing wrote in December, just after the $621 million center opened to the public, some conservatives complained that its exhibits downplay the importance of religion in American history and exalt the glories of national government instead of God. In particular, critics were incensed that the center includes an engraving of the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” with a note saying that it was the “national motto.” (wrong!)
I expect the ACLU and every atheist in the country to be all over this. So far in the United States where the Ten commandments come anywhere near a government building the Ten commandments have lost the battle. But has lost every battle over our national motto “in God we trust” being displayed. I expect however this will be a big test case. We shall see. BB
