The Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office last week became the fifth law enforcement agency in Virginia to p
The Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office last week became the fifth law enforcement agency in Virginia to place “In God We Trust” decals on its police vehicles, joining Amelia, Tazewell, Dickenson, and Unicoi Counties.
“This country is based on In God We Trust, and I think seeing it on the cars is comforting to the majority of the people,”said Dinwiddie Sheriff D. T. “Duck” Adams in an official statement.
Unfortunately Sheriff Duck is wrong. The phrase “In God We Trust” wasn’t even brought into existence until the beginning of the civil war. In fact, the first coin bearing the words wasn’t minted until 1864.
Either way, many folks are cheering this decision while many other folks are critical of it.
As we all know, the police are a public sector, government entity. Indeed, located right on their license plate is the proclamation: For local government use only.
Yes, the founders mentioned our “creator,” but they also put in place a safeguard or a “wall of separation between church and state,” as Jefferson wrote in 1802. Now, while there is no explicit reference in the Constitution affirming separation of church and state, it was the intention of our founders.
In fact, in the US Treaty with Tripoli, President Adams affirmed that the US was not a Christian nation and therefore does not endorse any particular religion.
Everyone is entitled to practice whatever religion they choose, and express their spirituality freely. The state has no say in how spiritual someone is or isn’t and no religion is prioritized or prohibited by the government. That promise becomes questionable when government starts mixing with religion.
So when a police car, a government vehicle, bares a statement like what “Duck” is so excited about, it raises some eyebrows as many believe it is endorsing a specific religion. Some may say this is a generic statement, representing all religions and spiritualities. We’ll get more into that later, but for now, let’s say that’s true.
It nevertheless sets a dangerous precedent. It introduces the potential for favoritism, banning, or other incentives to or penalties against any particular religion. Governments should not be in the business of religion, in any way, shape, or form. That brings me to my next point, our national currency and the designation of our national motto.
First added to U.S. coins during the beginning of the Civil War, when religious sentiment was on an upswing, then added to all currency in 1956, the phrase “In God We Trust” has been our national motto ever since. At the time, Rev. Billy Graham and Dwight Eisenhower basically utilized Christianity and patriotism into a weapon against what was seen as “godless Communism” in the USSR.
On its face, this is unconstitutional and even more dangerous a precedent than the police cars.
It’s also hypocritical, and has no place as our motto, not with our past and current behavior, policies, and rhetoric.
Our country’s founding included this phrase: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” Around a century later, during the civil war, our “creator” was used to morally justify the practice of slavery.
As Alexander Stephens, Vice President of the Confederate States of America, said in his famous Corner Stone speech “For His own purposes, He has made one race to differ from another, as He has made “one star to differ from another star in glory.”
Apparently not “all” men were created equal. Of course, our “creator” never mentioned women, and their treatment in this country has similarly been nothing short of criminal. The allegedly basic right to vote was not afforded to women until 1920, centuries after the white men the founders had in mind began voting.
Up until the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision, “god” was used to justify same-sex marriage bans. Indeed, the Republican party’s official platform includes a push for a constitutional amendment “affirming marriage be between a man and a woman.” With dozens more examples to offer, it is clear that the power of law and religion have no place together.
Finally, let’s examine the phrase itself. Which god do we trust? Certainly it’s not Allah.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the New York Police Department began an intense surveillance operation that focused on Muslims in New York City and beyond. Plainclothes officers mapped out entire Muslim communities, tracked Muslims’ daily activities, investigated Muslim college students and more.
The project was finally shut down this year.
This election year has seen several candidates propose either banning Muslim refugees, or only allowing in Christian refugees. This of course implies a religious test to determine who can come into our country. Ted Cruz announced a plan to “patrol Muslim neighborhoods.” Ben Carson wouldn’t have a Muslim in the White House. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump went a step further, proposing a ban on ALL Muslims entering the country.
The fact that it’s “temporary” means nothing.
In defending these bumper stickers, people may say it represents all religions, surely everyone trusts in God. Our trust seems to come with some caveats, and we have no business keeping this as our national motto, much less on a police car.
