Take Action! Tell Your Representative to Vote

On March 17, a resolution which reaffirms the official motto of the United States as “In God We Trust” was approved in the House Judiciary Committee and will soon face a vote in the House. If passed, the resolution would encourage the display of “In God We Trust” on public buildings, including government institutions and public schools.

H. Con. Res 13, which was introduced by Representative Randy Forbes (R – VA), has 64 co-sponsors, comprised largely of Republican members of Congress. The resolution can be found in its entirety here.

If religion and morality are taken out of the marketplace of ideas,” the resolution reads, “the very freedom on which the United States was founded cannot be secured.” The resolution goes on to state, “‘As President Eisenhower said and President Ford later repeated, ‘Without God, there could be no American form of government, nor, an American way of life.'”

This resolution is a blatant offense to the separation of church and state. Millions of Americans who do not believe in a god would take issue being forced to silently endorse this motto on the walls of their offices and in the halls of our children’s schools.

Rather than “In God We Trust,” the American Humanist Association recommends the use of the nation’s original motto, E Pluribus Unum (Latin for “Out of many, one”), which still appears on the national seal in public buildings and is a more inclusive motto that all Americans can embrace. (Read the AHA’s press release.)

We urge you to contact your Representative today and ask her or him to vote “no” on H. Con. Res. 13. Visit our Action Alert page and you can send a message directly to your Congressperson by email. Our system also provides your Congressperson’s office phone number. Let’s make our humanist voices heard!