The Patriot Post® · 'So Help Me God,' Maybe

Following Mark Alexander’s column, “Obama’s End Run on Faith in the Military,” more than a few nationally syndicated columnists have offered their insights on the subject. Unfortunately, most are still responding to an original AP news release on a complaint from Michael Weinstein and his so-called “Military Religious Freedom Foundation” about the Air Force Academy’s Cadet Honor Oath, which ends with “So help me God.” (Clearly, Weinstein and the MRFF are dedicated to freedom from religion, not our constitutionally enshrined freedom of religion. But not a single mainstream media report has been filed on a much bigger issue than the Honor Oath.)

Typical of the “expert opinion” being syndicated across the nation, is that of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark Thompson, who posted an op/ed in Time Magazine on the “So help me God” issue. Thompson’s Pulitzer was earned for a series he wrote that lead to enhanced military helicopter safety. Clearly it was not earned for his limited knowledge of military oaths.

Thompson asserted, “The formal American embrace of religion in civic government is a fairly recent phenomenon: ‘Under God’ was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. ‘In God We Trust’ became the nation’s official motto in 1956. In 1957, ‘In God We Trust’ was added to U.S. paper currency.”

He got the recent dates right, but the assertion that references to “God” are a “recent phenomenon” is patently incorrect.

Thompson should recall that the words “Under God” were in Abe Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. But the roots of those words go back to the beginning of our nation’s history.

The most formative words in our nation’s most historic document, the Declaration of Independence, assert that Liberty is “endowed by their Creator,” not the gift of man, as Barack Obama and his Leftist cadres assert today.

The words “So help me God” were prescribed in oaths as early as the Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789. But five months earlier, George Washington elected to use those words in conclusion to the first oath of office as president.

Invoking faith was a common theme for Washington and most other founders, as in these words from Washington’s farewell address in 1796: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensible supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness - these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. … Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths…”

The words “In God we trust” first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864, long before it was added to currency in 1957. And one of the earliest references to “In God We Trust” was in the last verse of our National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key penned the words, “And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust,’” after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814.

Regarding the current controversy over the AFA Officer and Cadet oaths, a Freedom of Information Act inquiry is being processed to determine who removed the words “So help me God,” and why.