Our greatest enemies

In June of 1956 a joint session of the United States Congress passed a bill changing our national motto from E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many ONe) to In God We Trust. The bill was soon signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The motto now appears on all of our money.

Fast forward to today’s world. In Finland a member of the parliament and a clergy person are going to trial for quoting scripture and speaking publicly about their faith. In China Muslims have been put on concentration camps and their women sterilized. Christians are being martyred throughout the world everyday. During the pandemic, churches were closed but protests were allowed. People of faith in the United States have been discouraged or even silenced for witnessing their faith in public, because it might offend someone.

What does all this have to do with our national motto? Our nation, even though flawed, has been based on trusting God, not mere mortals. (See Jeremiah 17:5-10 and Proverbs 3:5-6.) You might ask, “Why should I care? I have no faith, or I don’t approve of organized religion.” If we as a nation ignore the away taking of our first amendment of freedom of religion and speech, it won’t be long before all of our freedoms will be taken away from you.

Our greatest enemies are not Communists or dictators, but apathetic people.

Chuck Cooper