{"id":26108,"date":"2021-07-18T18:49:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-18T18:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=26108"},"modified":"2021-07-19T15:40:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T15:40:31","slug":"how-in-god-we-trust-bills-are-helping-advance-a-christian-nationalist-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-in-god-we-trust-bills-are-helping-advance-a-christian-nationalist-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 bills are helping advance a Christian nationalist agenda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kristina M. Lee<\/a>, Colorado State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

City vehicles in Chesapeake, Virginia, will soon be getting religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a meeting on July 13, 2021, city councilors unanimously voted in favor<\/a> of a proposal that would see the official motto of the U.S., \u201cIn God We Trust,\u201d emblazoned on every city-owned car and truck, at an estimated cost to taxpayers of US$87,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the state of Mississippi is preparing to defend in court<\/a> its insistence that all citizens, unless they pay a fee for an alternative, must display the same four-word phrase on their license plates. Gov. Tate Reeves vowed last month to take the issue<\/a> \u201call the way to the U.S. Supreme Court should we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn God We Trust\u201d became the national motto 65 years ago this month. But over the past few years a string of bills and city ordinances has sought to expand its usage and presence. Such efforts include legislation requiring or encouraging the motto be displayed in government buildings<\/a> and schools<\/a>, on license plates<\/a> and on police vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Mississippi license plates carry the motto. State of Mississippi<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The rise of bills across the country at this time is no coincidence. It fits with a concerted effort by Christian nationalists who view the motto as a tool to help legitimize an agenda of passing legislation that privileges conservative Christian values<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christian nationalism<\/a> is a political ideology that fuses conservative religious beliefs with a \u2013 usually white<\/a> \u2013 American identity. Christian nationalists assume that the laws of the land should be based on Christian morals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a scholar of religious and political rhetoric<\/a>, I have observed how Christian nationalists are using what I call \u201ctheistnormative<\/a>\u201d legislation \u2013 government-endorsed policies, rituals, laws and symbols that use vague religious references, such as \u201cGod\u201d \u2013 to encourage people to view the United States as a theistic collective \u2013 that is to say, as a nation of believers in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From coins to national motto<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Christian nationalists played a key role<\/a> in getting \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d put on coins during the Civil War and ever since have attempted to use the motto as \u201cproof\u201d that the United States is a Christian nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Christian nationalists<\/a> criticized the Founding Fathers for failing to recognize the United States as an explicitly Christian nation in the Constitution. An early Christian nationalist organization, The National Reform Association<\/a>, pushed for a \u201cChristian Amendment<\/a>\u201d that would correct what they called the \u201coriginal sin<\/a>\u201d of not recognizing Jesus Christ in the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their efforts failed. But Christian nationalists had better success in getting the more ambiguous motto \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d put on coins<\/a> in 1864. It followed a report to the U.S. Treasury by the director of the U.S. Mint, James Pollock, an active member of the National Reform Association, in which he asked<\/a>: \u201cWe claim to be a Christian Nation \u2013 why should we not vindicate our character by honoring the God of Nations in the exercise of our political Sovereignty as a Nation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase amends \u2018In God is our Trust\u2019 to \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 in an 1863 letter to James Pollock, director of the Philadelphia mint. National Archives and Records Administration<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amid fears of \u201catheistic communism<\/a>\u201d during the Cold War a century later, Christian nationalists in the U.S. again tried and failed to pass<\/a> a \u201cChristian Amendment.\u201d But they again found success in advocating for legislation that used vague religious references, culminating in the adding of \u201cunder God<\/a>\u201d to the pledge of allegiance and making \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d the national motto<\/a> on July 30, 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
Two years before making \u2018In God We Trust\u2019 the national motto, President Eisenhower introduces a stamp carrying the slogan. Bettmann \/ Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since it became the national motto, conservative Christians have used \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d to justify opposing abortion rights<\/a> and same-sex marriage<\/a> by suggesting that they violate the principles embedded<\/a> in the motto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, Mississippi state Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith justified legislation that would ban voter registration on Sundays<\/a> by holding up a dollar bill and saying, \u201cThis says, \u2018The United States of America, in God we trust.\u2019 \u2026 In God\u2019s word in Exodus 20:18, it says \u2018remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.\u2018\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most Christian nationalists claim to support religious freedom<\/a> \u2013 which would seemingly apply to all faiths \u2013 most believe Christianity, specifically white conservative Christian values, should be privileged in the public sphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Project Blitz\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Christian nationalists have increasingly turned to \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d bills as a way to further legitimize their agenda. This is particularly evident in the \u201cProject Blitz\u201d initiative, led by the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation<\/a>, which states its aim as \u201crestoring Judeo-Christian principles to their rightful place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Blitz started in 2015 with the purpose of \u201cblitzing\u201d the country with legislation advancing Christian nationalism. As David Barton, a leader in the initiative, explained<\/a> in a 2018 conference call with state legislators: \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like whack-a-mole for the other side; it\u2019ll drive \u2018em crazy that they\u2019ll have to divide their resources out in opposing this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such success in Project Blitz was in Chesapeake, where the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation is based. The organization successfully pushed for the motto \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d to be displayed<\/a> at the City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Project Blitz generated negative publicity<\/a> in 2018, it was misleadingly rebranded as \u201cFreedom for All<\/a>.\u201d During a recorded strategy meeting that was later circulated by the social justice think tank Political Research Associates<\/a>, Lea Carawan of the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation explained<\/a>, \u201cAs soon as we understood that they knew they were on to us, we changed the name; shifted things around a little bit [\u2026] we\u2019ve renamed and moved on but it\u2019s moving just as strong and just as powerfully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up to 2018, the initiative had helped more than 70 bills<\/a> relating to their agenda get proposed. The group continues to have successes<\/a> in getting legislation not only proposed, but also passed. According to BlitzWatch<\/a>, a group tracking Project Blitz initiatives, this includes bills that support Bible readings in schools<\/a> and policies that allow adoption and foster agencies<\/a> and health care providers<\/a> to deny services based on religious grounds. But it is the \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d bills<\/a> that have seemingly been the most successful for Project Blitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushing America\u2019s ‘Christian heritage\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the initiative\u2019s 2020-2021 playbook<\/a> \u2013 which was obtained by the religion news website Religion Dispatches<\/a> \u2013 \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d bills aim to recognize \u201cthe place of Christian principles in our nation\u2019s history and heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While those behind \u201cProject Blitz\u201d claim the bills are not about converting people to Christianity, they also argue that the U.S. should be a Christian nation whose laws and policies \u201creflect Judeo-Christian or biblical values and concepts<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As such, \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d bills set the foundation for more explicitly conservative Christian legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The playbooks<\/a> suggest \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d bills can \u201cshore up later support for other governmental entities to support religious displays\u201d to help America accept its \u201cChristian heritage.\u201d The Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation also recommends legislators push for other types of bills including, as stated in their 2018-2019 playbook<\/a>, a resolution to establish policy \u201cfavoring intimate sexual relations only between married, heterosexual couples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risk of opposing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What makes \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d bills so successful is that they often receive bipartisan support. In Louisiana, for example, it was a Democratic governor<\/a> who signed the 2019 bill requiring the motto be displayed in all schools. Politicians who do oppose \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d bills run the risk of being labeled as \u201canti-faith<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its being the national motto for only 65 years, Christian nationalists have framed \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d as part of the U.S.\u2018s founding tradition. Moreover, the motto has become an important rhetorical weapon for Christian nationalists \u2013 using it to advance their belief that governments and people are to \u201ctrust in God,\u201d and more specifically their perception of a conservative Christian God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Explore the intersection of faith, politics, arts and culture.<\/em> Sign up for This Week in Religion.<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kristina M. Lee<\/a>, Ph.D. Candidate in Rhetoric, Colorado State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kristina M. Lee, Colorado State University City vehicles in Chesapeake, Virginia, will soon be getting religion. At a meeting on July 13, 2021, city councilors unanimously voted in favor of a proposal that would see the official motto of the U.S., \u201cIn God We Trust,\u201d emblazoned on every city-owned car and truck, at an estimated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2450],"tags":[3964,10193,10194,10196,1829,10029,3443,10195,8156,6610,8941],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26108"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26116,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26108\/revisions\/26116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}