In one way, I agree with Ken Vance’s Feb. 18 editorial that the initiative to put “In God We Trust” on public display is not about religion. My take on it is, rather, that it is about politics.
It is a deliberately provocative maneuver in the divide and conquer tradition as well as being a distraction from more important issues. Tom Mielke is not a stupid man nor, being a successful politician, can he be a naive one. After all the controversy about prayer before public meetings, for Mielke to say that he didn't foresee a problem with this his latest foray out of politics and into publicizing personal belief, this latest gambit is disingenuous at best and a calculated subversion of religion at worst.
The motto itself is indicative and predictive of many of the divisive problems we face today in our country and the world. Our original motto, From Many One, is both more reflective of our founding principles and more inclusive simply on the face of it. Now we have a motto which actively excludes many and represents a dwindling number of Americans. Let us trust our fellow Americans. as public policy and trust in God or not as a matter of individual choice.
The latest survey I read in The Huffington Post, which has a large section devoted to religion, states that only 30 percent of the people of this state describe themselves as religious. The 70 percent of us who do not tend not to be publicly vocal, not out of fear but out of disinterest. It is time we become interested; it is time to take steps to protect our rights and our say in how our resources are allocated.
And Editor Vance, for you to say that you do not care what people outside of Clark County think is a bit of childish bravado. If you pay federal taxes, if the laws you live by, including laws guaranteeing religious freedom emanate from the Constitution of the United States, and are subject to district courts, state courts and federal courts, if you drive on roads funded by the state and are defended by State Troopers and the US armed forces, then you have to expect feedback from outside of your area just as you have the right to vote and otherwise weigh in on state and national matters. The very motto which you support is a national motto not a Clark County exclusive. It was changed once and can be changed again.
I have heard it said that the only people who don't care about other people's religion are those who don't care about religion at all. I find that view exaggerated but it helps make the point that apathy on the part of non-believers is no longer an option.
If this is so important to Tom Mielke then let's have a referendum on both the prayers and the display. Is he willing to spend taxpayer money to push personal opinion into the public realm?
You are right that many people do not realize that the separation of church and state protects religion as well as the state. It is a short-sighted view of a majority to think they will always be paramount. And it is a corruption of the spiritual message of any religion to seek and to wield power over the secular domain.
Susan Moore
Yacolt
