Encouragement

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In God We Trust Or Not?
©
by

Stephen A. Peterson

While shopping at the Wal-Mart Super Center on the far west side of Oklahoma City off of interstate 40, I overhead two Wal-Mart employees discussions regarding the need for people in the United States to keep separate their public expressions of God to themselves. One employee then cited, and falsely so, the First Amendment that is reputed to justify this so-called “Wall of Separation” between church and state. Their statements and ignorance of American history was more than this aging citizen soldier could stand.

Taking a fairly new looking dollar bill out of my pocket, I crossed the Rubricon to do battle with ignorance. I asked these gentlemen “Do you gentlemen ever realize how much of the Almighty God is represented in the “almighty dollar?” I went on to explain and point out that the two circles representing both sides of the Great Seal of the United States were as a result of six years of work on the parts of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adam that represent the bond between the United States and God. Congress approved this seal on June 20, 1982.

The pyramid in the left circle represents material strength and endurance. Its unfinished top signifies the unfinished work left to be done in the development of the republic of the United States. The single eye is the “Eye of God” that is on top of the pyramid emphasizing the importance of putting God and spiritual welfare above material efforts and things. Inspite of what is being said these days that the Founding Fathers of the United States were deists (Deists—those who believe God exists but plays no role in the everyday affairs of humankind and that God is powerless to do anything) is not supported by the empirical evidence left by these men. The majority of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America believed that the strength of the United States was rooted in Almighty God and that the progress of the nation MUST be UNDER GOD’S watchful eye. The one eye above the pyramid also represents one God in three persons.

The Latin words, “Annuit Coepit” (pronounced, Ah-Newt-Chay-Pis) circling the top of the seal means “He (God) has favored our undertakings (work).” The three Latin words under the pyramid, “Novus Ordo Seclorum” means “A new order of things” that signifies that freedom will only exist when the people are under God and make God first in order to be able to exercise freedom and self-government. The Roman numerals at the base of the pyramid are a reminder of the birthday of the United States—1776.

The eagle became the symbol of the United States in 1782. It was chosen over the turkey (Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey as he argued, and rightly so, that the turkey was the first gift of the Native Americans to the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving feast and essential to their survival) as the symbol of strength, victory and protection as written in Psalms 91:1-6. The shield on the eagle’s breast signifies self-reliance when God is invoked; it contains thirteen stripes symbolizing the thirteen original states. In one talon is an olive branch with thirteen leaves once again signifying the thirteen original states, meaning peace as given Noah when the floodwaters subsided. It was God’s promise of peace when a nation turns itself towards His goodness and care. Above the eagle’s head is a ring of light surrounding the thirteen stars (thirteen original states again). The ring of light represents Almighty God’s protection when the nation lives with the precepts of God. The ring of light is/was a common symbol in the painting and sculptor in many painters and sculptor’s works down through the centuries.

At the conclusion of this old soldier of Native American heritage’s explanation, these two men said nothing nor did they debate their false and presumed issue of church-state separation. That is quietly becoming the separation of church (God) FROM state. Nowhere in the Constitution of the United States of America or its subsequent Amendments is there a separation clause stating that one’s religious preference or expression is to be muted or suppressed from public view. The current debate regarding this matter is nothing more than an attempt to suppress anyone who expresses a belief in God from a Christian point of view. All Americans regardless of age, color, race, or national origins who believe in God and these United States must educate themselves regarding this nation and remind those who would falsely state otherwise. It is NOT just the responsibility of ONE Native American warrior!!!! It is the People of God’s responsibility under God as well!

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