In god, do I really trust? ... October 23, 2016

The discrepancy between the First Amendment of the US Constitution (The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, ensuring that there is no prohibition on the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble, or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.) and the official motto of the United States, “In God We Trust”, has bothered me for a long time – it is also a bizarre coincidence that the motto has been around for almost as long as I have been around on the face of this earth – which means, it is not an artifact from a couple of hundred years ago, but a product of the modern times! That this motto should have replaced "E pluribus unum" (Out of many, one) is, in my opinion, at odds with the constitutional principles - in letter, and in spirit.

Presidential elections in the US and in other proclaimed, secular democracies highlight the religion issue in each major election cycle, with candidates trying hard to appease different religious constituencies. Parliamentary democracies will attempt to achieve a balance of seats across religious and sub-religious lines, while presidential democracies will nominate government executives (such as Vice Presidents or Heads of Departments) per a balance across religious lines. 

In the US, there is debate about who will keep god in our lives and who will not! In India, I have heard that “people don’t cast their vote, but vote their caste”! Emotions also tend to run high, with religion playing a big role with the sentiments of the candidates and the electorate. 

In the backdrop of all this, I wonder again about the relevance of the motto, which I regularly put away as a minor irritation. I have come to accept that the separation between church and state exists as a constitutional principle, and to a lesser extent in the way the national governments are formed and run. 

While being subject to the rancor between the two US Presidential candidates for the next two weeks, I do see why many wish and pray “God bless America”, but .... in that god, do I really trust?