Representative Richard M. Siddoway, Republican of Bountiful and published author of religious fiction, believes. He believes in the importance of posting the national motto, "In God We Trust," in the Utah's public schools.

House Bill 0079 is urgently needed, according to Siddoway. Why? In a letter to the Ogden Standard Examiner on January 6, 2002, Siddoway stated:

"Simply speaking, we are a nation that has deep religious roots and in a time when it appears some are working to remove any acknowledgment of God from our public life, the motto of the United States seems not only appropriate but unifying."

This clearly sounds as if Mr. Siddoway thinks that there is not enough of God in our public life. Yet, he also claims that, "There may be great differences in the God that I worship and the God that you worship. We may call him by different names-Elohim, Allah, the Great Spirit-or we may choose to not recognize him at all." Mr. Siddoway is asking that we "acknowledge" but need not "recognize" a deity. What does that mean?

Mr. Siddoway's contradictions continue throughout his letter when he states, "The posting of the national motto is not an attempt to sway anyone's thinking toward any particular religion, and certainly is not the establishment of a religion. It is the posting of the motto of the United States of America as adopted by Congress." In his next paragraph he continues, "This nation is founded on freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."

Harumph. First of all, Mr. Siddoway seems eager to conflate all concepts of God. This simply does not reflect reality. Brahma does not equal Jehovah does not equal Coyote, any more than French is the same language as Swahili or Pashtu. To dismiss the uniqueness of religious concepts and traditions is both ignorance and arrogance. So much for a generic "God."

The "We" of the motto is equally troubling, Again, "we" do not all believe, let alone trust, in the same God. Who speaks for all of us in our beliefs? Why do we not simply speak for ourselves?

To "Trust" God is to invoke an ancient paradox: the problem of the origin of evil. If God is good, why does he create or allow evil? Why should we "trust" the God that either permits or directs the most horrific tragedies on a daily basis. On September 11, whose God was on duty? The God of the victims or the God of the murderers?

If Mr. Siddoway continues his disingenuous claims that IGWT is merely the national motto, he may well shoehorn it into the schools. But what has he accomplished? He has forced an element of religious belief-his religious belief-upon a captive audience.

In order to assess the spiritual needs of our community, consider some numbers for a moment. According to my current telephone directories, there are about 300 public schools in the Salt Lake valley. How many churches are there? At least 1,500. How many bumper stickers, store signs, billboards proclaim "God Bless America"? Thousands! There are religious television stations (broadcast and cable), religious radio stations, religious book stores, and parochial schools. There is release time in the middle of the school day for religious instruction. There are religion books in the public libraries. There is religious language in the legislature, in the courts, in the city council meetings, the Pledge of Allegiance.

In addition to all of this, all U. S. currency bears the motto of "In God We Trust," an interesting association of worship and money. From a marketing perspective, our money consists of hundreds of millions of advertisements for a deity as they constantly circulate through American society. Not enough statements of belief?

Ironically, the motto of the state of Utah says nothing about God. It is a single word: "Industry." The first motto of the United States also omitted mention of a deity. That motto is still found on currency and in a few official places: E Pluribus Unum, or, "From Many, One." In fact, I believe that motto better reflects our America than "In God We Trust."

If, indeed, Mr. Siddoway is right, we can expect that the most moral and estimable of our citizens are those with the greatest exposure to the national motto. Here, at last, we have a means of verifying the positive effects of IGWT. It should be a simple matter to demonstrate the ethical superiority of:

• Bank tellers
• Convenience store clerks
• U.S. Mint employees
• Cab drivers
• Exotic dancers
• Politicians

Okay, so maybe that wasn't such a strong argument. Still, in the wake of September 11th, America is turning back to God and traditional values. Right?

Actually, no. From the Associated Press, January 16, 2002:

A November poll by the Pew Forum found 78 percent of Americans--the highest in four decades--believed the role of religion was increasing, more than double the number who said the same thing in March. Yet the same respondents, only a month after the terror attacks, said their church attendance had not changed from four in 10 Americans going once a week.

So, it seems that Representative Siddoway-and the American Family Association, the conservative Christian group promoting the IGWT posters-have no faith in their own faith. They find it necessary to use and abuse government and public education in order to further their belief. This is not about belief or patriotism, but about power. Somehow, the bloody wars and repressions of religious tyranny, which were so fresh in the minds of Jefferson, Madison and Paine, mean nothing to the AFA. The AFA advocates the use of the Bible in establishing social norms. In their zeal, they are simply following the instructions in Psalms 2:8, 9:

I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron.

Or, consider the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:14-17:

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

There is enough religion in Utah without having to force it into the schools. Perhaps the religious motto of the United States will find its way into the public schools of Utah, but it will be an empty victory for its proponents. Those who believe will continue to; but those who do not will feel that they do not matter. Rather than a phrase that divides, why not post the phrase that includes us all?

--Richard Garrard