In God We Trust?

by Oliver Woods
(Portland, Oregon)

“We Need to Keep In God We Trust On Our Money”, according to Annette Maraist, writing in the West Palm Beach Catholic Examiner. The In God We Trust commentary appeared at Examiner
on Monday, August 3, 2009

Mrs. Maraist is certainly well-intentioned, but it’s difficult to imagine more historical mythology packed into a single paragraph. The movement to keep “In God We Trust” on our money is typical of the bumper sticker mentality of the American evangelical when it comes to American history and culture.

America as a political entity has not trusted in God since breaking covenant with Him in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Thus, the phrase “In God We Trust” on our coinage is hypocrisy at best, blasphemy at worst.

Consider the following historical clichés found in the short “In God We Trust” editorial:

1) America was founded on Christianity.

America may have been founded on Christianity in 1620 (Plymouth) or 1630 (Boston), but in 1787 (Philadelphia) America switched religions. To determine the god of a nation, we need only look to the source of law in that nation.

Earlier colonial documents were conspicuous by the covenant language of their preambles, which almost always invoked God or the rule of His law. Because the Bible was the source of law in America, the God of the Bible was America’s God. The motto In God We Trust was completely appropriate for colonial America.

That all changed with the U.S. Constitution of 1787. All reference to God was done away with in the Constitution, replaced by a new, humanistic god, “we the people.” It is the people, not God, who are the sovereign grantors of political authority and the source of law under the Constitution. The theocratic God of the Boston Puritans was replaced by the humanistic god of the Virginia aristocrats – we the people.

Moreover, the notorious Article VI dethrones the Bible as the higher law, making “this Constitution…the highest law of the land.” The same Article outlaws the religious test oath for public office holders. By this prohibition, America became officially polytheistic or pluralistic in judicial orientation. Every god in the Pantheon would now compete for supremacy in the legal realm.

2) our founding fathers trusted in God.

It depends on who you mean by founding fathers. If by founding fathers you mean the likes of William Brewster, John Winthrop, or Nathaniel Ward, you would be correct. The latter was the author of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, which referenced its ordinances directly to the Pentateuch. For example, “If any person committeth Adultery with a married or espoused wife, the Adulterer and Adulteresse shall surely be put to death.” That might be a little more “Christian foundation” than today’s antinomian evangelical was bargaining for.

On the other hand, if you mean the Founding Federalists of 1787 it is hard to know exactly what they trusted in. Whatever god they trusted, it is clear from what they gave us that it wasn’t the God of the Bible, as we have demonstrated above.

3) Some Americans are trying to have “In God We Trust” taken off our currency and coins.

More power to them. The words In God We Trust on our coinage is hypocritical in the extreme. In Baal We Trust or In Molech We Trust would be far more honest and in touch with reality.

According to R.J. Rushdoony, “Molech is “the king” or “kingship”. The god-king represented man on a higher scale, man ascended, and the worship of such a god, i.e., of such a Baal, was the assertion of the continuity of heaven and earth. The power manifested in the political order was thus a manifestation or apprehension and seizure of divine power. Moloch worship was thus a political religion” (Institutes of Biblcial Law, p32).

A majority of modern Americans have enthroned big government as their god and look to Washington as the provider of every need. The Obama cult is its most recent manifestation. The printing presses of this god are now in high gear to satisfy the demands for health, education and welfare of a nation filled with political idolators.

4) Ben Franklin as Christian apologist.

Quoting Benjamin Franklin in support of Christianity is like quoting Madonna in support of the Girl Scouts. Franklin’s call for prayer is in fact the only reference to God, Christ or the Bible in the entire 4-volume set of Records of the Federal Convention of 1787.

Think about that for a moment. The delegates spent almost 4 months that summer laying the foundation for an entirely new civil government and never once referred to the governing authority of God or His Word. In God We Trust? This seems a tad unusual for men who were allegedly using the Bible as their Great Political Textbook.

5) America’s founding fathers…were Christian men who believed in prayer.

Regarding Franklin’s famous call for prayer, a footnote to the Records of The Federal Convention of 1787 (p. 472) indicates that “The Convention, except three or four persons, thought Prayers unnecessary.” Apparently the colonial elite did not believe strongly enough in prayer to bother with taking up a collection to hire a local clergyman to perform the duty. Perhaps it would have disturbed the sworn secrecy of their proceedings.

It appears there was none among them practiced enough in the art of prayer to lead the assembly before the throne of God themselves. In God We Trust was not their rallying cry.

The editorial’s closing exhortation is certainly worthy of our attention: Let us stand up for Christianity…. Unfortunately, the assumption behind the statement is that standing up for Christianity is the same thing as standing up for the U.S. Constitution. Given the evidence presented above, that may take more faith than many of us are able to muster.