Evangelical Christians have dominated society to such an extent for so long that people no longer question the inclusion of god in public discourse. Our Founding Fathers had a different vision for the country, working diligently to exclude references to a higher power in official documents. Nowhere is that more evident than in the constitution itself, which makes no mention of god. That exclusion is intentional, the result of much debate, and not an accidental omission.
The preamble to our founding document sets the tone clearly:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Note that the only blessings discussed are those of "liberty" not of god or a higher power. That sentence was not casually drafted.
The Federalist Papers authored by Jay, Madison and Hamilton never mention god, and only mention religion in the context of protecting the free practice thereof.
The closest we come to a reference to god in any founding text is in the Declaration of Independence, which mentions "their Creator" and the protection of "divine providence" but never appeals to god to interfere in the affairs of men.
"In God We Trust" was first placed on United States coins in 1861 during the Civil War. Only in 1956 was that phrase adopted as the national motto by the 84th Congress. The words were first put on paper currency in 1957.
The clause "under god" in the Pledge of Allegiance was inserted only in 1954 when President Eisenhower signed legislation to recognize "the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty."
In spite of popular efforts to claim the nation was founded on Christian principles, the original manuscripts prove that false. Our forefathers were unambiguous in their efforts to exclude god from government. That cannot be disputed based on their own words. For the first 180 years of existence, the United States never included god in its motto, on its currency, or in any document creating the republic. We were born a secular nation and remained one for nearly two centuries.
So why would did Obama utter, "So help me god" with a hand on the bible at the end of this swearing in? He should not have done so. The oath taken by the president is spelled out in the constitution, and nowhere do we find "so help me god" in the text. The oath as explicitly written into the constitution contains no appeal to god in any form. The president simply promises to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
We also now accept without question invocations and prayers at the ceremonies to swear in our leaders. But that tradition only began in 1941. All presidents up to Franklin Roosevelt respected the sentiments of our Founding Fathers. But FDR went rogue by inviting a Catholic priest to offer a prayer at his swearing-in ceremony.
From that innovation we have come far. The minister invoking god on behalf of the president on that cold January day had already interjected religious views on social issues into what should have been the most secular of government acts, a president assuming the power of his office. But Rick Warren's politics, while a distraction, are not the primary problem. Instead, the real question is, why invoke the god of Abraham? We could appeal to Zeus, or Mars, or Apollo. Let us be honest, the invocation appealed to a Christian god. If that seems unfair, imagine for a moment a rabbi or Imam leading the prayer as Obama placed his hand on the Torah or Koran. Like Warren, those religious leaders could have claimed to speak for all, appealing to one god. But the scenario of a non-Christian leading the prayer is outrageous, precisely proving the point that Warren was speaking for Christians and Christians only. That is inappropriate in a country founded on the principle of religious freedom for all.
The trend toward increasing religiosity in the swearing in of our leader needs to be reversed to recapture the spirit and intent of our founding principles of secularism. We have a 200 year example of how that works well. We can correct the mistakes of the 1950s and eject god from government. That such a suggestion seems radical and Quixotic only highlights the degree to which religion has inappropriately penetrated public discourse in the last 60 years. We are now arguably closer to a soft theocracy than the secular nation born in 1776. Think not? Try envisioning the election of a president who professes no faith in god or a higher power. We as a people must ask ourselves at some point if the theocracies of the Middle East are better models for governance than the system put in place by Madison, Adams and Jefferson. If not, we must move away from religion in public affairs. We can start by having our president stick faithfully to the script in the constitution he is vowing to defend. Let us hope that when Obama is sworn in for his next four year term, he will exclude from his oath that final phrase appealing to god.
