By Kevin Gareau

A new bill has passed that will require most public buildings to have the words “In God We Trust” displayed.

I am a humanist and do not believe in a supreme being whether it be Yahweh, Allah, Jehovah, Vishnu, or Zeus. So, not only am I opposed to the words “In God We Trust,” but also any statement that gives legitimacy to a deity.

This country is one founded on secular principles, and the display of such statements as “In God We Trust” violates our separation of church and state.

Furthermore, why are we discussing this? Why is this important? We should be focusing on something more useful like the fact that our entire country is in trillions of dollars in debt and it is not going to go away any time soon.

Also, what about addressing immigration reform or trying to get our public health care program to work? That is what the Democrats are saying, according to NPR. But, with our government, we will be lucky to have a working public health care system and immigration reform in fifty years.

NPR also reports that the Republican stance on this was that the bill should go through. Why? Because, according to Virginia Representative Randy Forbes, “it is appropriate for Members of Congress and our nation – like our predecessors – to firmly declare our trust in God.”

Our president, on the other hand, has stated that he thinks the country’s motto is actually what it has been really since its inception: “E pluribus unum.” or “Out of many, one.” That is a statement of unity we can all get behind because we are all human and any one of us can identify with those words. As a union, we are a nation of many nationalities, ethnicities and lifestyles. We do not need belief in a god to bring us together.