News

Speaker urges reversal of 'In God We Trust' sign on courthouse

A rendering shows 'In God We Trust' in 10-inch letters on the facade of the Historic Courthouse.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 6, 2015

A Hendersonville resident who described himself as an ordained Baptist minister and person of strong faith urged Henderson County commissioners on Monday night to reverse their decision to post "In God We Trust" on the front of the county's two courthouses.

Saying only people, not governments, can be Christian, Phillip Allen, president of the Western North Carolina chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the phrase is clearly a religious affirmation that excludes a segment of the population.

“When government posts ‘In God We Trust’ in public buildings for all to see, it sends a constant reminder to those who do not believe in God — or who do not believe in God the way that we believe in it — that there’s something wrong with them," Allen told the board during the open public comment period. "They’re outsiders and they can never be integrated into the American system. The government should never send that kind of message to any of its citizens. America stands for the proposition that all of us stand equal in the eyes of the state no matter what we believe or what we don’t believe.”

“‘In God We Trust’ has specific Christian contextual history," he said. "With the increasing diversity of religions in our society it is both bad public policy and morally wrong to risk insulting that diversity. The posting of the motto on government property would create the impression among everyone who passes that the government endorses the religious message of the motto.”

He rebutted the idea that the motto was a good way to promote patriotism.
“Patriotism and religion are two separate entities,” he said. “We are not a Christian nation. We are a nation with a secular Constitution. By definition, geopolitical nations cannot be Christian. Only individuals can be followers of Christ. I fully understand that courts have ruled that this motto has lost all religious significance.

"As an ordained Baptist minister and a person of what I consider a pretty strong faith, I find the motto divisive, and I’m confounded by the idea that other Christians are not offended by such trivializing of sacred phrases and ideas. ‘In God We Trust’ is and always will be a religious phrase that should be treated as one.”

Quoting Pope Francis's charge to Congress that “pursuit of the common good… should be the chief aim of politics,” Allen said, “I feel and others in the community feel you are pursuing exactly the opposite when you exclude others and make them feel as second-class citizens.”
Commissioner Grady Hawkins responded that the motto has valid standing in the nation's history.
“The motto ‘In God We Trust’ was a law passed in 1956 by the United States to differentiate from atheist communism,” he said. “It’s the law of the land. It was tried in the courts in 1970 and I don’t see any reason that we should back off from our position at all.”
Chairman Tommy Thompson, after getting no takers when he asked whether other commissioners cared to comment, concluded the response with a nod to Hawkins. “I totally agree with you, sir,” he said.