Government and the Endorsement of Religion
The argument was made to me that the government isn’t endorsing any one religion with the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance or “In God We Trust” on our money, but it is however endorsing religion in general. The question is should the government be in the business of endorsing religion, even in general, when many of its citizens do not believe?
By endorsing religion even in general the government insinuates that the religious are preferred over the unreligious. It is my opinion that governments should not favor the personal beliefs any group or groups of its people, nor should it encourage religious acknowledgment. Rather governments must be neutral toward religion; not interfering with religious practice so long as that practice does not infringe upon the rights of others, and also in no way should governments promote or require religious practice.
Because the acknowledgment of a god even, a generic one, is a religious practice such acknowledgments must be omitted from our legal patriotic mantras for government neutrality in matters of religion to be maintained.
If in the United States such neutrality is not maintained the meaning of the first clauses of our Bill of Rights comes to naught, and if this first among rights has no meaning how long can our other rights also retain their meaning?
