https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/letters-to-the-editor-plutonium-deal-with-department-of-energy-is-a-bad-plan/article_21d9ab58-e21e-11ea-b473-0f9810a741f7.html
An Aug. 23 article “Mississippi ponders new flag designs” is about the removal of the state’s Confederate symbol on that flag. Commissioners will choose a new design, and voters will decide whether to agree on that design. Unfortunately, by state law the flag must display the words “In God We Trust,” a provision that persuaded some conservative Mississippi lawmakers to retire the Confederate symbol. “In God We Trust” became our official U.S. motto only in 1956 at the height of the Cold War, as a means to separate us from “godless Communism.” The de facto motto established by our founders had been E pluribus unum, Latin for “out of many, one.” This phrase affirms American diversity is our source of strength, a country of people with many faiths and none.
Our secular government must remain neutral with respect to religion. A government that feels entitled to tell you to trust in God also can feel entitled to tell you there is no God. Mississippians practice a variety of religious faiths and none, with approximately 14 percent identifying as nonreligious.
More recently, “In God We Trust” has been adopted as a rallying symbol by white Christian nationalists, who push for it to be included on license plates, schools and elsewhere. While I support the removal of the Confederate flag, replacing one divisive symbol of exclusion with another solves one problem, but creates a new one.
An Aug. 23 article “Mississippi ponders new flag designs” is about the removal of the state’s Confederate symbol on that flag. Commissioners will choose a new design, and voters will decide whether to agree on that design. Unfortunately, by state law the flag must display the words “In God We Trust,” a provision that persuaded some conservative Mississippi lawmakers to retire the Confederate symbol. “In God We Trust” became our official U.S. motto only in 1956 at the height of the Cold War, as a means to separate us from “godless Communism.” The de facto motto established by our founders had been E pluribus unum, Latin for “out of many, one.” This phrase affirms American diversity is our source of strength, a country of people with many faiths and none.
Our secular government must remain neutral with respect to religion. A government that feels entitled to tell you to trust in God also can feel entitled to tell you there is no God. Mississippians practice a variety of religious faiths and none, with approximately 14 percent identifying as nonreligious.
More recently, “In God We Trust” has been adopted as a rallying symbol by white Christian nationalists, who push for it to be included on license plates, schools and elsewhere. While I support the removal of the Confederate flag, replacing one divisive symbol of exclusion with another solves one problem, but creates a new one.
