Sam Childers arriving to the Book Signing Event of his book “Another Man’s War,” Beverly Hills, CA on May 5, 2009 - Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com Source: Wikimedia Commons
Hollywood action superstar Gerard Butler, whose recent high-octane roles include King Leonidas in “300” (2006) and Clyde Shelton in “Law Abiding Citizen” (2009), will soon be playing the role of real-life AK-47-toting Pastor Sam Childers in 2012’s “Machine Gun Preacher,” according to the Internet Movie Database.
A former bike gang member and drug dealer, Childers underwent a massive spiritual transformation in 1992, during a revival at an Assembly of God church and his pastor prophesied that Sam would one day travel to Africa.
Six years later, near the close of 1998, Childers boarded a plane for the Sudan.
It would be the first of several trips he would make to the war-torn region where the Ugandan sectarian militant group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Koney, had abducted and tortured an estimated 30,000 children and displaced 1.6 million people since the start of the rebellion in 1986.
The LRA claims they act under the principles and morals found in the Christian Bible and the Ten Commandments.
Childers made it his life’s mission to defend and protect the innocent children of the Sudan region by any means necessary.
For the past 12 years, the so-called “unconventional American pastor” has lived and operated in Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda. His Angels of East African Children’s village has become a safe haven for rescued children.
“Machine Gun Preacher” is currently in its preproduction phase and will begin shooting in Pennsylvania in early July, according to Variety Magazine.
Under the directorship of Golden Globe nominee Marc Foster, whose 2008 “Quantum of Solace” follow-up to the 2006 James Bond remake “Casino Royale” cemented him as a Hollywood action-film giant, “Machine Gun Preacher” will co-star Michelle Monoghan of “Mission Impossible 3” (2006) and “Eagle Eye” (2008) fame as Childers’ wife Lyn.
The Christian Post recently interviewed Childers about his use of heavy firearms.
“I don’t condone violence at all,” he responded. “I don’t believe in violence but at the same time I don’t believe that children should be raped, murdered or cut up.”
Gerard Butler at the 2010 Golden Globe Awards. Photo © gerardjamesbutler.co.uk Fan Site.
He also added, “I look at it as self-defense and I look at it as I’m helping God’s children. I’m not a person out to murder. It’s not that I like hurting anybody. But at the same time these people [the LRA] need to be stopped.”
Childers’ book Another Man’s War: the True Story of One Man’s Battle to Save Children in the Sudan and his official web site http://machinegunpreacher.org/ recall “the gruesome scenes after LRA raids that included the smelling of burning flesh and saving a woman drenched in her own blood from a breast that was half cut off by a machete,” according to The Christian Post.
Childers also recounted the LRA’s forcing of their victim’s to engage in cannibalism and children to murder their own mothers.
The biopic film’s release dates have undergone several changes and reschedulings since entering preproduction and is now slated for release sometime in 2012 with Lionsgate Entertainment and in association with 1984 Films.
You can find out more about Childers and his Angels of East Africa organization at his website www.machinegunpreacher.org.
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Dean Hamer and Joseph Wilson's wedding announcement, published in the Oil City Derrick newspaper. Photo access: "Out of the Silence" Press Kit
A 57-minute documentary which recently premiered at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York is taking a look at one small Pennsylvania town’s views on homosexuality, according to the film’s official web site.
Based on the true events surrounding the film’s Producer and Writer Joe Wilson and Director of Photography Dean Hamer, Out in the Silence dives into the rural life of Oil City, Pennsylvania, where “filmmaker Joe Wilson’s wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy and a quest for change,” according to the movie’s official synopsis.
After placing their marriage announcement in the local paper, nested among photos of several heterosexual couples, Wilson and Hamer quickly became the center of controversy and the target of local residents. But one local mother, Kathy Springer, just happened to have a son, C.J., who had been bullied and even “brutally tormented” at school for being gay.
With no help from local authorities, Springer sought Wilson’s help and together they agreed to confront the school administrators who, according to Springer, made every day “eight hours of pure hell” for C.J. This unfortunate situation ultimately drew Wilson back to the small hometown he left behind all those years ago.
But on the other side of things, local resident Diana Gramley, leader of the conservative American Family Association, grew enraged after seeing Wilson and Hamer’s wedding announcement. Motivated to rid her small town of the gay agenda, Gramley began campaigning against any and all such forms of perversion and even asked residents to openly condemn same-sex marriage.
Out in the Silence will additionally cover the unlikely friendship and bond made between Wilson and one local evangelical pastor, who strove to promote understanding and harmony between the town’s gay couples and other local residents. And although the film makes it clear that the pastor and his wife disagreed with the couple’s lifestyle choices, the two still seem happy to have gained a friendship with Wilson and Hamer.
As an unconventional documentary, Out in the Silence additionally features footage and photography shot by C.J. himself, the young boy tormented at school for his sexuality. Coupled with beautiful scenery, rustic, abandoned oil factories, old family photos, and a “hauntingly raw” soundtrack provided by transgender singer/songwriter Namoli Brennet, C.J.’s personal portrait of his own private suffering paints a visually and emotionally dynamic picture for viewers of all faiths and beliefs.
“Out in the Silence is not a film I set out to make,” says Director Dean Hamer. “It’s not a story of the God-hates-fags or the kids-who-get-indoctrinated-at-Jesus-camp type. It’s not about attention-seeking hate mongers, angry protesters, or the extremes of any side.”
Hamer says the film is about understanding and acceptance.
“It emerged out of a firestorm of controversy, and the realization that if I didn’t shine a light on and try to understand and illuminate the basis for the controversy, it would simply pass away into history’s ether … and silence would settle once again over my hometown in the faded hills of northwestern Pennsylvania, affirming and perpetuating the fear and isolation that I knew too well as a young gay boy in a stiflingly anti-gay world.”
Out in the Silence will debut on two of New York’s largest public television stations: WLIW (June 26, 3 p.m. ET) and WNET (June 27, 11:30 p.m. ET).
You can purchase the film on DVD, request a screening, find a television broadcast in your area and watch the trailer at the official web site: http://wpsu.org/outinthesilence/.
The film’s HD trailer is also available on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfpObMuudM4
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Official theatrical poster for the film. Copyright: Downes Brothers Entertainment and Lucky Crow Films
This September, New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, one of America’s leading Christian and inspirational fiction writers, will see the release of the first feature film based on one of her bestselling novels: “Like Dandelion Dust.”
Finished in 2009, the movie has already made rounds in several national and international film festivals, garnering over 30 awards, including the Audience Choice Award at the recent Stony Brook Film Festival. However, the film will release nationwide on September 24, 2010.
Under the directorship of Jon Gunn (“Mercy Streets,” 2000 and “My Date with Drew,” 2004), along with a screenplay adaptation by Stephen J. Revele (“Copying Beethoven”), the film will follow “the lives of the struggling blue collar Porters and the privileged Campbell family,” according to an IMDB plot summary.
Young Joey Campbell (child actor Maxwell Perry Cotton in his feature film debut) finds himself at the center of a controversial dispute that could rip him away from the only home and family he has ever known.
His adoptive parents, Jack (actor Cole Hauser, Tyler Perry’s “The Family that Preys,” 2008 and Mel Gibson’s “Paparazzi,” 2004) and Molly (Kate Levering), are heartbroken when they discover that Joey’s biological father Rip Porter (Golden Globe nominee Barry Pepper, “Seven Pounds,” 2008) has been released from prison and found several loopholes in the adoption papers.
Porter quickly declares that his son be returned to him and a judge decides to uphold his claim. Jack and Molly soon find themselves devising a plan to get their son back at all costs. The film’s official tagline echoes the heart of the story: “Sometimes the greatest love is letting go.”
Although the film has yet to debut to a national audience, it has already received praise from several reviewers, including “Variety” writer Robert Koehler who hailed it as “cathartically emotional [with a] head-turning performance by Barry Pepper.”
Movieguide.org called the film “a very realistic look at a tragic situation. For audiences that love drama with strong characters, “Like Dandelion Dust” is compelling movie entertainment.”
Other cast members include Academy Award winner Mira Sorvino (as abused wife Wendy Porter), Kirk B.R. Woller, Brooke Bryan and Brett Rice.
The film is rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, including domestic violence and alcohol abuse.
You can find out more about “Like Dandelion Dust” and watch the trailer at the film’s official web site: www.likedandeliondust.com.
“Like Dandelion Dust” will release in theatres nationwide September 24, 2010.
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Animated depiction of Jesus in Comedy Central's "South Park." Photo copyright: Comedy Central & Braniff Productions.
A new animated series currently under development for Comedy Central’s 2010-2011 production slate will feature the adventures of a cartoon Jesus Christ as he tries to escape the shadow of his “powerful but apathetic father,” according to “The Washington Post.”
After stirring controversy earlier this year with their depiction of the prophet Muhammad, Comedy Central writers are describing “JC” as, “a playful take on religion and society with a sprinkle of dumb.”
The storyline will follow the animated Jesus as he travels to New York in an attempt to become “a regular guy.”
While depictions of Jesus continue to surface in episodes of the increasingly popular and controversial animated series “South Park,” “JC” will mark the first time the character has received his own show.
The project’s writers and producers hail from Reveille, the production company behind several popular comedy sitcoms, including “The Office” and “Ugly Betty.” According to the original thumbnail sketch, “JC” will depict God as a lazy man who spends his days playing video games and ignoring his son Jesus.
Last Thursday, Catholic League President William Donohue issued a statement concerning the new cartoon and even went so far as to refer to the show’s producers as “deceivers.”
“These are the same executives who delight in bashing Christians while continuing to censor any depiction of Muhammad on ‘South Park,”
Kent Alterman, head of original programming and production at Comedy Central, says the show is just a normal part of producing quality comedy and that “in its purest form [comedy] always makes some people feel uncomfortable.”
Donohue disagrees. “Besides the fact that there is no end to the number of comedians who have made a huge name for themselves without ever offending anyone, what is even more relevant is the fact that Comedy Central has absolutely no interest in making Muslims feel uncomfortable.”
“South Park” producers continue to feature their Muhammad character, but often cover him with a black box, as Muslims believe that any representation of their prophet is blasphemous.
Network spokesman Tony Fox refused several requests from reporters seeking comments both on Donohue’s statements and further details on “JC,” according to “The Huffington Post.”
According to several reports, “JC” is only a few steps into the preproduction process and network executives will have to okay the script and storyline pitch before the show gets the green light.
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How often do you think about your spiritual armor? Photo copyright Paramount Pictures & Marvel Entertainment Studios.
Have you ever considered yourself the warrior type? Odds are, as a Christian, you proabably haven’t given too much thought to battle tactics, ground strategy or how to overtake a stronghold.
But we see this type of action in movies all the time. And speaking of movies…
The wait is finally over — Iron Man 2, the most anticipated action film sequel of the decade, has officially rocketed into theatres nationwide and taken the American movie-going public by storm.
And, if you’re anything like me, you’ve been looking forward to this flick since the closing credits of number one.
Let’s face it: there just isn’t anything cooler than watching the debonair Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) suit up as the famous armored Avenger and give bad guys everywhere a run for their money.
Besides, what other superhero do you know who can manage to save the world and still find time to go for a late night sports car cruise and belt out those side-splitting, sarcastic one liners while wooing every unsuspecting dame in his path?
But fancy gadgets and hot rod cars aside, there is a spiritual truth to suiting up and preparing to do battle – and this suit, just like Stark’s, comes outfitted with an array of weapons that will light up the world of evil like Iron Man’s suit in a dark alleyway full of bad guys.
Most of us would give our right arm for a chance to blast off in an armored Iron Man suit for a quick soar through the heavens.
But, as Christians, we’ve been given access to an amazing suit of armor.Check out Ephesians 6:10-18:
“10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (New International Version)
Wow! Talk about a seriously sweet and super suit of armor! Unlike Iron Man, who fights against “flesh and blood,” we as Christians are instead battling against “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Take it from a fellow soldier, this war isn’t for the weak at heart or for the soldier who can’t decide which side he wants to fight on.
Now is the time for Christians to be strong and courageous and take a tough stance against the enemy (1 Corinthians 16:13).
Check out the elements of your suit and your arsenal of holy weaponry:
The Belt of Truth: this comes in handy for overcoming the lies and deceptions of Enemy Number One, Satan. Remember that Jesus said He alone was and is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).
The Breastplate of Righteousness: this means having a daily, consistent walk with God. Remember that Satan is the Accuser (Revelation 2:10), but a Christian who walks in the light will not give Satan an opportunity to attack.
The Shoes of Peace (yes, contrary to popular belief, way cooler than Iron Man’s rocket boots): Because Satan desires to instigate spiritual warfare and unrest, a believer who walks in the way of peace will be better prepared to defeat such attacks.
The Shield of Faith: Remember that Satan is the source of all doubt, mistrust and disbelief. He loves to ask believers, as He asked Eve in the Garden, “Hath God indeed said?” (Genesis 3:1). Faith is the weapon we use to overcome every obstacle and every foe (1 John 5:4). Use the shield of faith to repel Satan’s fiery darts of doubt, fear and uncertainty.
The Helmet of Salvation: this refers to our ultimate salvation, which we will receive when God returns to take us Home.
It is no mistake that this piece of our armor guards the warrior’s mind. As long as our mind remains fixed and focused on our eternal Home, which should spur us toward sharing our faith with others, we will not fall into the traps of the Enemy.
The Sword of the Spirit: this is the Word of God, which Paul later describes as being “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). And look at what can happen when we use it:
“ 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete”
(2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start “demolishing arguments.” Grab a quick bite to eat for lunch and then take a few thoughts captive for the day.
Or better yet, skip this evening’s dessert and demolish some strongholds and pretentions that exist in opposition to the knowledge of God. After all, you’ve got the weapons. Now it’s time to use them.
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Move over YouTube. Step aside Break.com. GodTube, the world’s largest and most popular Christian video-sharing and social networking platform on the Web, has risen from the ashes and is back with a whole new look.
After the site’s original launch back in 2007, over 2.7 million users have flocked to GodTube every month to upload, share and watch the latest in Christian music, sermon and inspirational videos from around the world.
And now, after the successful launch of Tangle.com in 2009 (formerly GodTube), the site has returned under its original moniker, much to the approval of millions of users and fans, at www.godtube.com. Users may now visit Tangle, separate from GodTube, at www.tangle.com.
A media release by A Larry Ross Communications reports that, since its return to the web, GodTube has already “realized more than 400,000 unique visitors, indicating the viral community’s excitement,” according to ChristianToday.com.
Trey Bowles, CEO of Big Jump Media (parent company to both Tangle and GodTube), said “There is a great amount of brand loyalty to GodTube.com from the visitors to the site and we plan to grow the site offering and continue to provide a place online for Christians to come find, view and share encouraging and inspirational content across the Internet.”
Bowles also added, “After three years of building online media communities for the Christian marketplace, we have learned how to measurably identify ways to better serve our target audience and continue to expand our growth into the Christian community.”
The new GodTube boasts a fresh, bold and professionally appealing homepage, along with several new video categories, including comedy, cute, inspiration, music, news and even sports. Upon visiting the site, users will be instantly greeted with the featured video of the day and options to share it via their social networking communities such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg and StumbleUpon.com. And, as always, there is an option to e-mail the video to a friend.
As far as faith-based video networking and sharing goes, it just doesn’t get any better than this.
GodTube CEOs and administrators also plan to incorporate several new features in the future, including user video uploading options and a content flagging system to “help ensure a safe environment for the entire community.” And rumor has it users will even be able to create and manage their GodTube account via Facebook.
“We recognized the unfiltered and unmonitored content available on other sites and we wanted to provide an atmosphere where families can feel safer about their viewing choices,” said Bowles.
“We will continue to focus on providing tools and distribution opportunities that will unite the body of Christ online through both the largest social networking platform in the world, tange.com, and the world’s most popular Christian video sharing site, GodTube.com.”
You can check out GodTube’s new look and sign up for an account at www.godtube.com.
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Human trafficking claims 100,000 girls annually in the U.S. alone. Photo credit: iStockphoto.
Human trafficking: it’s not a fictional plot device created by talented scriptwriters for Hollywood action flicks like Taken and TV dramas like 24.
It is a real, modern-day form of slavery in which individuals (women and young girls in particular) are taken hostage and forced and coerced into performing sexual acts for commercial profit, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
And it’s something more and more filmmakers are addressing.
Since September 2009, the five young directors, writers and producers behind “Sex and Money: A National Search for Human Worth” have traveled across the U.S. to investigate and expose one of the most illegal underground industries in the world.
While the group’s last television series primarily focused on human trafficking in other parts of the world, their new documentary will strictly investigate the U.S. sex slave trade.
Besides conducting research in Washington D.C., they have interviewed porn stars, former prostitutes, political leaders and authors in an effort to raise awareness and encourage social awakening.
Photojournalist Tim Dyk told Christianity Today’s Elissa Cooper that as Christians, “We need to be willing to go to these areas, be willing to have conversations about sex, about prostitution, about helping people who are coming out of prostitution, because even Jesus wants to [reach out to] prostitutes. He recognized that they are needy people just like anyone else, just like we are.”
Although producers are not marketing the documentary as a “Christian” film, many people who working on the project are outspoken believers. In conjunction with photogenX, a ministry of Youth With A Mission, they are striving to expose the hard truths about prostitution in America, including the “the sexual exploitation of children,” according to the film’s official web site.
“There are so many different ways that we can work [against trafficking],” said Dyk. “I just think a lot of this requires the church, as followers of Christ, to walk out in what he’s calling us to do, [and] it can look different for each person. I think people just need to see how the Spirit leads and see how they can use their gifts.”
You can find out more about “Sex + Money: A National Search for Human Worth” at their official web site: www.sexandmoneyfilm.com. You can also watch trailers and webisodes on the group’s YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/sexandmoneyglobal.
The documentary is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2010 release date.
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Charisa Coulter, left, and Laura Silsby are two of 10 missionaries accused of trying to take children after the Haiti earthquake. Photo Source: Getty Images
On Monday, the Haitian judge involved in the case of the 10 American Baptist missionaries who attempted to transport orphaned children out of the country declared that all charges still stand, according to several international news reports.
Although rumors had been circulating that the volunteers would soon be exonerated, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil denied ever suggesting he would drop charges against the group.
Last Friday, Haiti’s top prosecutor in the case, Attorney General Joseph Manes, said that any information suggesting dropped charges was “absolutely incorrect,” according to a report from CNN.
Under Haitian law, the charges are required to stand until Judge Saint-Vil “renders his decision.”
Missionary group leader Laura Silsby is still being held in Port-au-Prince, nearly two months after eight of her fellow volunteers were released on the condition that they would return if there was a need for future questioning.
The ninth missionary was released in March.
Interestingly, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho said via a spokesperson last week that the State Department had informed him that all charges had been dropped against nine of the 10 missionaries (excluding Silsby). Saint-Vil’s statement to the media, however, suggested the opposite.
Reverend Clint Henry of Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho, where the missionaries hail from, said he received an e-mail from the State Department informing him that all the charges had indeed been dropped.
Manes, however, said on Friday that, based on the confidential documents his office received from Saint-Vil’s investigation, it remains to be seen whether the case will be dismissed or move to trial.
Right now, Saint-Vil has until May to decide if he will release Silsby or arrange a trial.
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The National Day of Prayer has been recognized and observed by every U.S. President since 1775.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) is at it again. The group recently embarked on a mission to replace the word “God” in the national motto “In God We Trust” with “Good” (see The Underground’s article Humanist Group Unveils “In Good We Trust” Billboards). Now they have set their sights on the National Day of Prayer, arguing instead for a “National Day of Reason,” according to CNS News.
The group’s movement started on the heels of last week’s federal court ruling that the National Day of Prayer was indeed unconstitutional because it violates the separation of church and state. U.S. District Court Judge Barbara B. Crabb wrote of the 1952 statute creating the National Day of Prayer that its “sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function,” according to the official AHA web site.
White House spokespersons have reported that President Obama will still recognize the traditional observance of the National Day of Prayer on May 6, as the court’s appeals process will not yet be exhausted by that time.
AHA Director Roy Speckhardt disagrees with the president’s decision.
“The government should not be directing citizens to pray,” he said. “In addition to being unconstitutional, it’s also specifically offensive to people who don’t believe in a god and are made to feel excluded by the observance.”
Historically, there have been several recorded National Days of Prayer, even before the 1952 ruling establishing the observance we now recognize as a nation. In 1775, the Continental Congress marked a day to designate “a time of prayer in forming a new nation.”
Former U.S. President John Adams would later declare May 9, 1798 “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting and prayer.” He asked Americans to pray “that our country may be protected from all the dangers which threaten it.”
The National Day of Prayer became a requirement of U.S. presidents’ recognition when, on April 17, 1952, former President Harry S. Truman signed a bill declaring that all subsequent presidents observe the day.
In recent years, the National Day of Prayer was reintroduced to the nation due, in part, to the efforts of the Reverend Billy Graham and certain members of both the House and the Senate. Together, these men implemented a joint resolution to mark an annual National Day of Prayer, “on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals.”
Peter Spriggs, senior fellow for policy studies at Family Research Council told CNSNews.com, “The American Humanist Association and their allied groups have every right to promote a new celebration if they want to – and if they can persuade people to participate voluntarily, that’s fine, but I don’t think they have a right to do away with a long-standing tradition that is deeply rooted in our nation’s history – which is calling the people to prayer.”
Spriggs also added, “[The National Day of Prayer] is inclusive of the vast majority of Americans who believe in a Supreme Being and who do pray, and it is inclusive of the vast majority of Americans throughout the history of our country –and the vast majority of the leaders of our country through our history.”
Of Judge Barabra Crabb, Spriggs concluded, “Judge Crabb was inferring that she found something in the Constitution that every president and Congress since 1775 has not.”
The case is expected to have its day in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Billboards like these are popping up all over the U.S., representing the campaign of the American Humanist Association.
The American Humanist Association (AHA) has unveiled a new series of billboards that replace the word “God” in the national motto, inscribed on the surface of a U.S. quarter, with the word “Good,” according to their official web site. The revised phrase now reads “In Good We Trust.” The first billboards, which also feature the AHA’s official web address, went up last week in Moscow, Idaho.
Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the AHA, said, “The billboard nicely sums up the two main messages of the American Humanist Association. First, that you don’t have to believe in God to be good—in fact, humanists and other nontheists see being good as one of the most important responsibilities in our one and only life.”
He also added, “Second, that church and state should remain separate for the benefit of us all.”
In Speckhardt’s opinion, the motto “In God We Trust” violates the First Amendment. Last month, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit maintained that references to God on national currency and in the Pledge of Allegiance are completely constitutional.
Prominent atheist and attorney Michael A. Newdow, who argued that the references to God be removed, was defeated by the court’s 3-0 vote.
The American Center for Law and Justice could not have been more thrilled with the outcome, saying, “We’re delighted to see the appeals court reach [this] conclusion with both the National Motto and the Pledge.”
The ACLJ also added, “The fact is that it always has been our position that while the First Amendment affords atheists complete freedom to disbelieve, it does not compel the federal judiciary to redact religious references in every area of public life in order to suit atheistic sensibilities.”
Historically, the motto “In God We Trust” was “placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War,” according to the U.S Department of the Treasury. After receiving a letter from one Rev. M.R. Watkinson, which pleaded for a national “recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins,” Former Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase wrote his own letter to a Mr. James Pollock.
Pollock, you see, was the Director of the Mint at Philadelphia. In the letter, dated November 20, 1861, Secretary Chase asked him to prepare a national motto and said:
“Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.”
Congress approved the motto “In God We Trust” with the passing of several acts and in 1864, the phrase appeared for the first time on the two-cent coin.
Current American Humanist Association president David Niose disagrees with the beginnings of the national motto and has his own ideas about what phrase would better represent America.
“The adoption of the ‘In God We Trust’ motto came at the height of the Cold War and McCarthyism in the 1950s, and it is unfortunate that we still cling to such religious rhetoric today,” he says. “E pluribus unum, the Latin phrase for ‘out of many, one,’ would be a much more appropriate motto. It reflects the true character of American society and government.”
The AHA currently has four other billboards in the Moscow area, which read “Don’t Believe in God? You Are Not Alone,” “Want a Better World? Prayer Not Required,” “Millions are Good Without God” and “No God? No Problem!”
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