Quote:
Originally Posted by August
One might say that to a believer invoking the name of God when telling a lie has repercussions that go beyond the grave.
I'm sure you can find examples of all sorts of dishonorable behavior if you look hard enough but that's hardly confined to evangelists. They're just fallible humans like the rest of us and even if they don't sometimes live up to the ideals they espouse it doesn't make those ideals any less worth trying to live up to.
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Repercussions beyond the grave are of little effect in the real, secular world and the addition of a religious element does nothing to determine the veracity, or lack thereof, of an attester in legal proceedings. We might just as well have a witness cross their heart and hope to die or "pinkie swear" before giving testimony or taking an oath; it would have just as much effect and import in real secular life as a religious component...
You are correct: the actions of weak, deceitful individuals do not invalidate the ideals to which they supposedly adhered and demanded others so adhere. This does not dismiss them from any responsibilities for their actions and those who defend them do nothing but cheapen and dilute those high ideals. Again, if there were actual real world repercussions for such actions, there would probably be less instances of such actions...
But we are not discussing the ideals, but, rather, the imposition of a religious element upon secular concerns, which is proscribed by the Constitution, regardless of the adaption and co-opting done in response to very much unnecessary religious prodding. Does "In God We Trust" make the real world value of our currency any greater or less than t would be if the words weren't there? I'm sure the Wall Street money lenders couldn't care less what it said on our currency as long as the money was good. It is a fact that those words were never an official part of our original currency and the inclusion of those words were made due to a religious and not legal expediency. The Constitution does not provide for mottoes, sayings, or any other wording on our currency. In fact, much of the US currency has only recently, in historical terms had the phrase added. Since the founding of the US, the words were in spotty use, sometimes dropped entirely, and it wasn't until 1957 the words were adopted as the official motto of the US in response to Commie hunting frenzies sweeping the nation. Those word, like "Under God", were never a part of the original design and founding of this great nation and are, if SCOTUS ever had the courage to actually address the question, unconstitutional...
http://www.treasury.gov/about/educat...-we-trust.aspx
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