It’s difficult to write an opinion on a subject that is black and white. 

“Should we make it legal to loot during riots?”         

No. 

“Should we try to come up with a viable solution to the energy crisis?”  

Yes. 

“Should we publish the motto “In God We Trust” on a plaque in our county courthouse?”

Are you serious?

In a nation founded on – wait, let me make sure this is right because my memory gets shady when it comes to history – religious freedom – yeah, that’s it – where the law of the land calls for a separation of church and state, how on Earth are you even asking that question?

Should we go back to our founding fathers for advice on the issue? 

Thomas Jefferson said, “Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.” 

Should we look instead to our immigrant history to inform us? 

How many Americans, particularly white, Christian Americans, constantly complain about things such as having to dial one for English? The wonderful, benevolent, God-fearing people who came here and led a terror campaign against the natives have the gall, to this day, to complain that other immigrants still don’t speak their language. 

Why does this keep coming up? Why would you even want to put the motto “In God We Trust” in the courthouse anyway?

Councilwoman Sue Means and her henchmen claim the reason is to “honor our state motto and our national motto.” This brings up a good point, actually – why are our state and national mottos still referring to God in the first place?

Let’s take a closer look at this – what is really the reason that anyone would want to put a Christian motto in any official building in a country purportedly built on freedom of religion? The answer is simple.It’s neither pride in nor practice of their religion. Its fear and hate, and nothing more. 

It’s to protect ourselves from the big, bad Muslims and remind them this is our country, not theirs. It’s to protect ourselves from those weird Buddhist people who come from the east and worship that weird fat guy. It’s to differentiate between us and those Hindus who sound so different from us when they talk. People, let’s just call it what it is, shall we? It’s racism. 

Senator John Murtha, God rest his soul, hit the nail on the head back in 2008 by calling Western Pennsylvania out on its malarkey in a national forum. 

Murtha’s exact words were, “There’s no question Western Pennsylvania is a racist area.” 

When it was insisted he apologized and in so doing, he zinged Western Pennsylvania again as he stated, “This whole area, years ago, was really redneck.” 

Needless to say, everybody freaked out as Murtha rubbed the truth in harder, and even Saturday Night Live had a field day with it. Actor Darrell Hammond portrayed Murtha and asked a crowd at a political rally in Western Pennsylvania, “Has anybody here seen Deliverance?”

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald expressed his own concerns in an email he sent to councilmembers urging them to vote against this legislation. He said diversity is an area in which Western Pennsylvania still needs to improve, and passing this bill would be detrimental to that growth. He intends to veto the bill if it hits his desk.

“Support and passage of [the proposed legislation] tells our residents and visitors that if they are Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Athiest, Muslim, Islamic or any other non-theistic group, they are not welcomed here,” Fitzgerald said. “We are disrespecting other religions and beliefs by promoting one above all others. If this legislation were to pass, we are telling everyone that our motto is that not all are welcome here.”

Of course, Fitzgerald never mentions race in his missive, but again, let’s call it what it is. It’s an attempt at reminding people who look, think, speak and act differently than we do of who’s really in charge. And that’s disgusting.

Councilwoman Means apparently has not given any of that much thought, though.

 “It’s our national motto. It’s patriotism. It’s history,” she said. 

Unfortunately, she’s right on the first count and dead wrong on the second. She does touch on something important with the third, though not in the way that she thinks. 

This whole “In God We Trust” stuff seriously needs to become history. It’s just hate painted up to appear inspirational. It defies common sense and defies what our founding fathers intended for our country and its growth and advancement.

Why are we even still talking about it?