Friday, January 11, 2013

Devotional: "In God we trust"

Question for future thought:

Each of the coins you have in your pocket or purse is inscribed with the united state motto "in God We Trust". 

How many people do you know that realize this and /or truly believe it?


Actually, I would wager that most of my friends are aware of this inscription and its historical and social significance. Also, A large portion of the people I choose to socialize with are practicing Christians  somewhat skewing that answer I would imagine.

Take a few minutes and look at a coin. Why was the motto chosen?

Honestly, I think that the decision to use this inscription was more political than religious. I don't doubt the faith of any man involved in the process, but knowing what I do about the US government, presently and historically, I think this was a unifying gesture, meant to call upon a common vein within the American population (which was ,and still is, largely christian). If that makes me a cynic, than I'll wear that hat.

In today's society, do people trust money more than God? 

"People" is a broad term, and I am hesitant to answer that with any conviction. After a while, I think it would turn into a semantic argument that revolved around defining "God" and defining "trust".

That being said, to say what is in my gut on this subject; I think the answer is yes. People, as an average, have more faith in the power of money than they do in the power of God.

Conversely, I am not persuaded that this fact is any different from the overall situation 50, 100, or even 200 years ago. It is hard enough to measure the faith and conviction of a living person, even someone we know. I am not at all comfortable measuring the faith, or the placement of it, of people who aren't alive to account for themselves presently.

Engage someone in a discussion about this question and what they think about having it printed on our money.

If that's not an invitation to talk, I don't know what is. Comment below, please.

1 comment:

  1. As far as I recall, that phrase was slapped on all our money during/due to the Communism scare. There was a huge deal about "true" Communism (whatever that is) being very very anti-religious. Why it ended up on our money, I dunno, but that's how "under God" ended up in our pledge of allegiance.

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