"God Bless America" has become so common of a political slogan, that today is it almost banal. Yet no other president before Nixon - amidst the Watergate scandal- had ever concluded a speech with those words. The phrase did not catch on right away, and it would take Ronald Reagan who made it his standard sign-off, to install it permanently in the political lingo.
That said, God started making a major appearance on the American public stage as early as 1864, on the 2-cents coin. "In God We Trust" became the official motto of the United States by an Act of Congress in 1956 and is now on every dollar banknote and coin. I thought I had spotted an exception as I looked at my 1$ "Martin Van Buren" coin but God forbid... it has not been forgotten but instead of finding it on the face, you have to look for it the outer edge. (Though collectors will be interested in knowing that there are an estimated 50 000 George Washington 1$-coins in circulation, mistakenly struck without the edge inscriptions..).
Yet not every American shares the same enthusiasm for God, and in fact about 20% of the under-25 year olds consider themselves atheist, agnostic, or without religious affiliation, nearly double the percentage of young people who said that in the late 1980s.
What is fascinating to me though is that despite its growing "membership", atheists are America's least trusted group. Indeed, it might come as a surprise but Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, and homosexuals.
The reason seems to be that religious people fear that atheists lack the fear of God that is apparently required to live with moral values, in accordance with the guidelines of the Books.
Does that mean that the reason religious people try to be "good" (and the definition of "good" can vary quite a bit according to the interpretation of the Books one chooses) is because they want to make sure they secure their spot in Heaven?
Is that really better than those who just want to lead a good life, not because they have anything to gain from it or anyone to fear, but just because they think it's right?
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