Sometimes, Even When You Lose, You Win

This past Friday, June 14th, our country witnessed a startling and nearly unheralded event:  150 members of the House of Representatives voted to allow the appointment of nonreligious chaplains in the US Armed Services!  And, while it is true that 274 Representatives voted against the measure, it is still a level of recognition and support for the 23 percent of our service members who are "nones", i.e., services members who identify with no traditional religion, that has never happened before.  And, as a religious professional working in a humanist congregation, The Ethical Humanist Society in Garden City, I know that a lack of belief in traditional or mainstream religions does not remove the human need for spiritual and pastoral resources.  So, here is a statement of appreciation for those 150 House members who cast a vote for support for all our service members.

In a particularly appropriate coincidence, June 14th is also the date that, in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill into law that places the words "under God" into the United States Pledge of Allegiance.  Generations of school children have been mis-led into thinking that this country was founded in a religious context, an idea that would have been an anathema to those we think of as the Founding Fathers.  Those who were not actually atheist or Deists, given Europe's sorry history of religious wars, were adamantly opposed to any role of religion in government.  

"In God We Trust" was not formally adopted as the motto of the United States until 1956, when, sadly, it replaced the motto first used in 1782, "E pluribus unum", Latin for "Out of many, one".  There are those who think otherwise, but no matter how often or how loudly they say it, our country was not founded as a Christian nation, or as any sort of religious nation, it was founded on the ideal of pluralism, E pluribus unum", out of many one!  And, I'd venture to say, that  is our enduring strength.

I don't have any hope of replacing the current motto on coins and currency with the more fitting "E pluribus unum".  But I think that it is important, not just to humanist, but to all of us, that we continue to make space in our discourse and our shared institutions for those who are secular, a-religious, anti-religious, humanist, humanistically religious or any other version of "None".  Sometimes, you know, even when you lose, you win.   And the vote in the House of Representatives last Friday on allowing nonreligious chaplains, though lost, was a win, unprecedented, really, and a step in the right direction for a real religious liberty for all.  

Here's to E pluribus unum!