As I write this, our Clark County councilors are currently embroiled in a somewhat controversial decision about whether or not to display the words “In God We Trust’’ in the main meeting room of the Clark County Service Center.
Councilor Tom Mielke initiated the proposal, which was discussed at a well-attended Feb. 10 meeting. Mielke and fellow councilors David Madore and Jeanne Stewart listened for more than two hours to testimony from a standing-room-only crowd before Mielke’s proposal died for a lack of a second. In the days after the meeting, the proposal seems to have gained some legs so apparently it’s not officially dead as I write this.
Many of those who testified at the Feb. 10 meeting were members of special interest groups from outside of Clark County. Here’s another chance for you to label me a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal, but I really couldn’t care less what members of special interest groups from outside of our area have to say about the issue. In addition to that, I think they’re missing the entire point.
The conversation shouldn’t be about the separation of church and state or the First Amendment. Like it or not, “In God We Trust’’ was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum.
Obviously, many in our secular world aren’t happy about the use of this official motto and they have fought to have the religious reference removed as a motto and also from our currency. I don’t join them in their crusade, but more power to them and their efforts. This is a free country.
I don’t mean to sound cynical or void of compassion to the views of others. I remember in high school, many of my close friends and I shared the same Christian views. Even though it wasn’t necessarily appropriate, we would have organized, or quasi-organized prayer in our locker room before and after sporting events. I don’t know of anyone outside our locker room who knew we were doing it and no team members complained.
I remember one bus ride back to Stevenson, the discussion came up. One of my best friend’s confided to three or four of us that he was an agnostic (a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God). I knew he wasn’t religious like the rest of us, but it was the first time he openly discussed his beliefs with us.
My friend’s declaration had a mixed reaction from this close circle of friends. Myself and one other team member were very understanding and supportive. Another team member, a devout Christian, couldn’t accept our friend’s beliefs. The debate lasted our entire bus ride home that night and at times got very uncomfortable as the Christian friend acted on the duty he felt to try to “save’’ our friend. He also was upset with the rest of us that we wouldn’t join in the crusade to convert our friend.
There are those who will not agree with me on this, but I didn’t feel it was my job to tell my friend what to believe. I felt it was my duty as a friend to be supportive. He never spoke out against our pre- or post-game prayers, before or after our discussion on the bus that night, but I always worried after that how he was feeling during the prayers.
So, I can appreciate those who battle for the separation of church and state. I also chuckle to myself because I don’t think many people who oppose the separation stop to realize that it actually protects them as well. Many people automatically assume the separation of church and state is excluding “their’’ church or “their’’ religion. Remember folks, there’s more than one church in this world and many more religions as well. Many people are comfortable with their church or their religion in our government or in our schools, but what if it was a church or a religion other than theirs? Would they still be so in favor of another God in their government or their schools? I know I wouldn’t be, so I accept my church and my religion being separated.
Getting back to Clark County, I don’t see this as an issue of separation. I know the issue of prayer before county meetings is a sensitive one. And I am sympathetic, just like I was to my good friend during our prayers in high school. But, like it or not, “In God We Trust’’ is our motto.
Mielke said it’s akin to displaying a photo of the president in the county’s meeting room and I agree with him. As long as it’s a recognized motto of this country, there is no reason not to display it proudly at government offices.
