We are citizens of two kingdoms and owe loyalties to both God and government. Civil religion, however, often confuses those two loyalties. Civil religion describes those public rituals that express the intersection of the political and the divine. Examples of civil religion include reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, with its affirmation of "one nation under God," swearing to tell the truth "so help me God," taking an oath with a hand on the Bible, and inscribing currency with "In God We Trust." Civil religion, with its references to a generic deity, is a pale substitute for authentic faith in a personal God, and it may be unconstitutional when it intends to invoke an atmosphere of worship or to create a religious presence.

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October 11, 2008
50 years later, 'In God We Trust' still mints controversy