US Supreme Court rejects ‘In God We Trust’ review
-16/11/05
The United States Suprem
US Supreme Court rejects ‘In God We Trust’ review
-16/11/05
The United States Supreme Court has decided not to review a ruling that the inscription ìIn God We Trustî on the front of a government building in North Carolina does not violate the countryís church-state separation.
On Monday the justices dismissed a lawsuit by two attorneys who had challenged as unconstitutional the phrase over the main entrance to the county’s legislative centre in Lexington.
The phrase, written in 18-inch block letters, was more prominently displayed than the name of the building, which was the only other writing on the front facade, according to the lawsuit.
A US appeals court ruled that the lawsuit failed to show that the display had no legitimate secular purpose, that it has the effect of endorsing religion or that it has resulted in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.
The appeals court said Congress first authorized the phrase ìIn God We Trustî on coins in 1865, and Congress made it the national motto in 1956.
It is inscribed above the speaker’s chair in the US House of Representatives and above the main door of the US Senate chamber.
Secularists and advocates of full church-state separation oppose the imposition of the inscription.
Radical Christian advocates of peace and justice causes, including the famous Berrigan brothers, have also in the past protested the stateís usurpation of faith to defend ìimperial interestsî.
They say that it is fairly evident that the US government in fact trusts in the power of the dollar and military might, not in God ñ and that it is offensive to both believers and non-believers to claim otherwise.
Attorneys for the two lawyers asked the justices to set aside the appeals courtís ruling and send the case back for reconsideration in view of the Supreme Court’s decision in June that Kentucky courthouses violated church-state separation by putting copies of the Ten Commandments on display.
The high court rejected the appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.
Over the past few years there has been a legal battle of attrition across the US over the appropriateness or otherwise of religious displays in public buildings and spaces.
On one side stands the religious right and those who wish to see the USA as a ‘Christian country’. On the other side are secular advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union, and those who want to keep their faith from being turned into a state sanctioned religion.
The argument is often perceived as a straight disagreement between religious people and those of humanist or other convictions. But it is more complex than that.
Christians who oppose the placing of religious symbols and inscriptions on public buildings. They say that the Gospel’s character as non-coercive love is violated by attempts to impose it, and by efforts to maintain a position of privilege for the church.
US Supreme Court rejects ‘In God We Trust’ review
-16/11/05
The United States Supreme Court has decided not to review a ruling that the inscription ‘In God We Trust’ on the front of a government building in North Carolina does not violate the country’s church-state separation.
On Monday the justices dismissed a lawsuit by two attorneys who had challenged as unconstitutional the phrase over the main entrance to the county’s legislative centre in Lexington.
The phrase, written in 18-inch block letters, was more prominently displayed than the name of the building, which was the only other writing on the front facade, according to the lawsuit.
A US appeals court ruled that the lawsuit failed to show that the display had no legitimate secular purpose, that it has the effect of endorsing religion or that it has resulted in an excessive entanglement of government and religion.
The appeals court said Congress first authorized the phrase ‘In God We Trust’ on coins in 1865, and Congress made it the national motto in 1956.
It is inscribed above the speaker’s chair in the US House of Representatives and above the main door of the US Senate chamber.
Secularists and advocates of full church-state separation oppose the imposition of the inscription.
Radical Christian advocates of peace and justice causes, including the famous Berrigan brothers, have also in the past protested the state’s usurpation of faith to defend ‘imperial interests’.
They say that it is fairly evident that the US government in fact trusts in the power of the dollar and military might, not in God – and that it is offensive to both believers and non-believers to claim otherwise.
Attorneys for the two lawyers asked the justices to set aside the appeals court’s ruling and send the case back for reconsideration in view of the Supreme Court’s decision in June that Kentucky courthouses violated church-state separation by putting copies of the Ten Commandments on display.
The high court rejected the appeal without any comment or recorded dissent.
Over the past few years there has been a legal battle of attrition across the US over the appropriateness or otherwise of religious displays in public buildings and spaces.
On one side stands the religious right and those who wish to see the USA as a ‘Christian country’. On the other side are secular advocates, the American Civil Liberties Union, and those who want to keep their faith from being turned into a state sanctioned religion.
The argument is often perceived as a straight disagreement between religious people and those of humanist or other convictions. But it is more complex than that.
Christians who oppose the placing of religious symbols and inscriptions on public buildings. They say that the Gospel’s character as non-coercive love is violated by attempts to impose it, and by efforts to maintain a position of privilege for the church.