52 Years Later,
Atheists Yet Feel
McCarthy's Presence
Dan Watson
From: "Dan Watson"
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Sent: February 13, 2002 12:59 PM
Subject: WebMaster:_Positive_Atheism_Index
Cliff,
I just thought I would email you and let you know what has just happened in Virginia. Last night while watching the 10 o'clock news on Fox I heard a report that absolutely infuriated me. It was about how Virginia State Legislature had passed a law requiring schools and other state institutions to post "In God We Trust" up with the following right next to it, "Our National Motto, 1951". It is now 52 years after the reign of McCarthy yet the Atheistic Community is still feeling his presence. Just thought you would be interested in this information. Keep up the good work.
Dan Watson
From: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
To: "Dan Watson"
Subject: Re: WebMaster:_Positive_Atheism_Index
Date: February 13, 2002 4:13 PM
I know.
Notwithstanding the fact that the date 1951 predates by six years the passing of P.L. 84-140, the "In God We Trust" bill, by the 84th Congress in 1957. These blatantly un-American people wouldn't dare hold up their so-called motto next to our original National Motto, which was, "E Pluribus Unum" meaning "Of Many, One," or "Out Of Diversity Comes Unity," or "A Plurality Of People Becomes A Nation United," and so forth: all these ideas and more are contained in that three-word Latin phrase. Our original National Motto was written by a subcommittee headed by Thomas Jefferson and including John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.
Their so-called motto is, in fact, a lie, because even though the United States has never before been more religious than she is today, and yet over 14 percent of us (adults) call ourselves "Not Religious." In what is trusted by whom!? Either emphasized word presents very sticky problems in U.S. law.
Although this is just as much the truth as the fact they force us to celebrate, the fact that a nation that had spent over half a decade terrified by the heavy-handed and patently unjust reign of the McCarthy Era elected representatives who voted to abolish our original Motto. Posting something like this (or aven admitting to this fact) is not something we could expect them to do.
I wonder why this is: it's just as true as what they said, though the message behind the motto "E Pluribus Unum" is universally applicable, and the statement itself is infinitely more truthful than "In God We Trust," which, according to recent surveys, is not believed by a solid 14 percent of the nation's population, and is not believed in its proper context (referring to the Christian deity), by as many as one-quarter of the people (23.5 percent CUNY 2001 weighted estimate) who call America their nation.
Cliff Walker
Positive Atheism Magazine
Six years of service to
people with no reason to believe
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