PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WAS ''GOD FREE" UNTIL 1954
One example cited by those who insist that America is a "Christian nation" built on a belief in a deity is the use of the Pledge of Allegiance. But did you know that the Pledge was originally "God Free" until 1954? The Pledge of Allegiance made no mention of a deity until the height of the cold war, when it was added.

WHERE DID "IN GOD WE TRUST" ORIGINATE?
Many mistakenly believe that it has been the national motto since revolutionary days; but the phraseology is strictly religious in origin.

The national motto adopted by the Founders was inscribed next to the Great Seal of the United States, a decoration devised under the supervision of Franklin, Adams and Jefferson. It was Jefferson who suggested "E Pluribus Unum," and that slogan was adopted in 1782, five years before the Constitutional convention of 1787.

It wasn't until nearly a century later, though, that "In God We Trust" was seriously proposed as a motto. In 1861, the Reverend M.R. Watkinson persuaded the secretary of the Treasury to try to introduce 'In God We Trust' as a motto on the coins of the land, arguing on the theological premise that in a Judeo-Christian nation, 'There is but one God.' Congress, then beginning to be responsive to the religious community and the votes that it was presumed to control, passed the Coinage Act of April 22, 1864, which designated that 'In God We Trust' be put on coins 'when and where sufficient space in the balance of the design' would permit it.

"In God We Trust" thus appeared on the short-lived 1864 two-cent coin. It has been used continuously on the one-cent coin since 1909, and on dimes since 1916. Since July 1, 1908,"In God We Trust" has also been stamped on gold coins, silver dollars, quarters and half-dollar coins.

Watkinson's effort to religionize the coinage was part of a larger campaign waged by a coalition of eleven Protestant denominations under the umbrella of the National Reform Association. Disenchanted with the secularism of documents such as the Constitution, the NRA sought to amend that instrument to "indicate that this is a Christian nation." Petitions were raised and formally presented to Congress. They proposed a new preamble to the Constitution which read:

We, the people of the United States, humbly acknowledging Almighty God as the source of all authority and power in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Ruler among the nations, His revealed will as the supreme law of the land, in order to constitute a Christian government..."

Fortunately, the petition failed despite the membership of powerful and wealthy men in the National Reform Association. They included Supreme Court Justice William Strong, a handful of governors and prominent businessmen.

The next step in the process of religionizing the national currency had to wait nearly a century, when on July 11.1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 140 making it mandatory that all coinage and paper currency display the motto "In God We Trust." The following year, Public Law 851 was enacted and signed, which officially replaced the national motto "E Pluribus Unum" with "In God We Trust" All of this occurred at the height of cold war tension, when political divisions between the Soviet and western block was simplistically portrayed as a confrontation between Judeo-Christian civilization and the "godless" menace of communism. Indeed, the new national motto was only part of a broader effort to effectively religionize civic ritual and symbols. On June 14, 1954, Congress unanimously ordered the inclusion of the words "Under God" into the nation's Pledge of Allegiance. By this time, other laws mandating public religiosity had also been enacted, including a statute for all federal justices and judges to swear an oath concluding with "So help me God."

1796-97 TREATY WITH TRIPOLI
"Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

No one claims that the treaty was the basis for our government being non-Christian. Surely this honor belongs to the godless Constitution, which calls on no higher power than "We the People." What the treaty does is to powerfully reaffirm what the Constitutional framers intended. A government strictly neutral regarding religion.

In the 1790s pirates of Tripoli (in what is now called Libya) were destroying U.S. shipping and holding U.S. seamen as prisoners. It was a serious problem and a series of negotiators were sent to try to put together an agreement to improve it. The Tready of Tripoli was one outcome.

President John Adams sent the treaty to the Senate in late May 1797. It was, according to the official record, read aloud, including the famous words, on the floor of the senate and copies were printed for every Senator. A committee considered the treaty and recommended ratification. Twenty-three Senators voted to ratify. In a very public way, they voted to say that "As the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion, . . ." the Muslims of Tripoli therefore need not fear a religious war from the U.S. The vote was unanimous! There is no record of any debate or dissension on the treaty.

President Adams signed the treaty and proclaimed it to the nation on 10 June 1797. His statement on it was a bit unusual: "Now be it known, That I John Adams, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the said Treaty do, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, accept, ratify, and confirm the same, and every clause and article thereof. And to the End that the said Treaty may be observed and performed with good Faith on the part of the United States, I have ordered the premises to be made public; And I do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing office civil or military within the United States, and all other citizens or inhabitants thereof, faithfully to observe and fulfill the said Treaty and every clause and article thereof."

The treaty and Adams' statement was printed in full in three newspapers, two in Philadelphia and one in New York City. There is no record of any public outcry or complaint in subsequent editions of the papers.

References in one or two later treaties to things such as the Trinity occurred in treaties with Great Britain and Russia, both officially Christian nations at the time; no declarations that the U.S. is a Christian nation were included.

WAS AMERICA FOUNDED ON JUDEO-CHRISTIAN LAW?
One example often cited in defence of public ten commandment displays is the origin of American law. Many claim the United States was founded upon Judeo-Christian law. However, the facts suggest otherwise.

The greatest influence on western legal development was the Roman law system. Roman law had its recorded beginnings in the law of the Twelve Tables, formulated in 451-450 BC. Roman legal development ended with the codification known as the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law), which consolidated all existing law into a single written code. It was promulgated (AD 533-34) by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I and was known as the Justinian Code. At its height Roman Law extended from England to Egypt, replacing many unwritten native customs and rules.

In the 5th century the Roman Empire was conquered by the Germanic peoples. This suppressed legal development throughout much of Europe. The conquering Germanic tribes brought little to replace Roman law. Early Germanic law began as unwritten customs of the tribe. The later written Germanic tribal codes were crude and rudimentary compared with the Code of Justinian. However, they do show considerable influence of Roman law.

The early Middle Ages saw little progress in the development of law. The Roman Catholic church quickly hijacked this legal vacuum, injecting its canon law system. Canon law borrowed from Roman law and thereby preserved the Roman system. These new eclectic Germanic tribal customs swept across Europe. When the Normans invaded England in 1066, they consolidated the conflicting local customs into what is known as common law.

In Bologna, Italy, around the year 1100, an awakening of learning in the field of law occurred. The principles of Roman law were applied to Germanic law transforming Roman law into Italian law and eventually modern civil law. As the revival of Roman law and its resulting codification spread through continental Europe during the later part of the Middle Ages, it stopped at the English Channel. Strong nationalism and a unified legal profession preserved the common law system in England.

The common law system spread through English colonization and conquest. The United States was one of the first to adopt and defend this system. Because the majority of the colonists who first settled America came from England, the common law system was introduced in many colonies. The lack of any law schools in America until 1784, a fact that necessitated the training of lawyers in England, established English common law in America.

Although English common law and the American variation are very similar, there are some notable differences. One important change was to remove law favoring a particular religion. Therefore American law is based on Roman influenced English common law minus the religious corruptions.