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He can't change the facts, he just can't. He can try, but he can't do it. And you are another one who doesn't know what the word GOD means in this context. Are you saying that atheists believe man is the most powerful force ever created? Is that what you honestly want to say?
Let me put it this way, I can't think of any being atheists would consider superior to humans, except maybe even more advanced extraterrestrials.
But then he goes on to say what the U.S. motto is, and he gets that wrong.
He did lie. Which is why other countries may be wondering what else he is lying to them about.
He should have said one of our mottoes is, or avoided the word motto altogether... Else he was forced to lie either way.
Nor would the god motto have fitted in with the rest of what he said, anyway.
A motto is an informal type of thing (unlike a dictum which is formal). Here is the dictionary definition of motto:
"1: a sentence, phrase, or word inscribed on something as appropriate to or indicative of its character or use
2: a short expression of a guiding principle"
Just because a particular congress in 1956 passed an "Official" motto doesn't mean the US hasn't had and doesn't have other mottoes. If we really want to nitpick, then why not attack the 1956 congress for its misuse of language - by formalizing (codifying) "In God We Trust", it's technically not a motto, but instead a dictum.
There are three mottoes on our national seal (the seal design, including the inclusion of these mottoes, was approved by an act of congress):
E pluribus unum, Annuit cœptis, Novus ordo seclorum.
It is absolutely appropriate to refer to any of these 4 phrases as a motto of the United States.
Last edited by hammertime33; 12-10-2010 at 10:40 AM..
No sore spot, you just think you KNOW what everyone else wants. Typical for a Progressive... I see you never answered my question to you about a higher power. Is that a sore spot for you?
When did I say I know what everyone wants? I suggested that the majority of Americans would 'guess' that our motto is e pluribus unum.
I'm not a progressive, whatever that is. Just an old lady who has had many years to observe and make up my own mind about things.
Funny how the constitution guarantees freedom of religion but the conservatives choose to ignore that part when they rave on and on about how far we, as a country, have strayed from that very same constitution.
It's also funny how they all boast about how moral and righteous they are when, in reality, they turn out to be the most immoral (politicians, I'm speaking of).
I have watched many science programs addressing the nature and beginnings of our universe. There are many intriguing theories. We may never know the origins of our universe. Created by god? So, where's god? What's god? God just IS? This we will never know, either. I just try to live a good life and whatever happens (if anything) after I die, well, I'll find out then. Maybe god is the original e pluribus unum!
Openly telling untruths is an indication you can't be trusted.
It was entirely appropriate for Obama to cite that particular dictum, but calling it the U.S. motto when it is very easy to verify that it is not incites distrust. Other countries will no doubt be wondering either of the following...
What else doesn't Obama know?
What else is Obama going to lie to us about?
I seriously doubt they will be wondering such things. These things are the purvue of bored, hateful people.
On Wiki it mentions two interesting Supreme Court decisions on the god motto:
- ... it has lost through rote repetition any significant religious content". So-called acts of "ceremonial deism" that have lost their "history, character, and context"
- the nation's "institutions presuppose a Supreme Being" and that government recognition of god does not constitute the establishment of such a state church as the Constitution's authors intended to prohibit
I find the second one a bit problematic for a secular, diverse country...
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