{"id":2258,"date":"2009-05-14T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2009-05-14T10:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geneveith.com\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2009-05-14T06:00:15","modified_gmt":"2009-05-14T10:00:15","slug":"another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Another kind of God-talk in the public square"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>In the course of a discussion about that litigious atheist who is seeking to censor \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d from the nation\u2019s coins, <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.higherthings.org\/wcwirla\/article\/4172.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pastor Cwirla<\/a> makes a fascinating point:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Newdow is that new breed of assertive atheist who doesn\u2019t want to hear or see the G-word in public, especially at public expense. \u00a0Apparently putting the G-word on currency is the equivalent of state-sponsored religion, contrary to the 1st amendment, or so he argues. \u00a0I guess no one ever thought of that back in 1864. \u00a0To call this state sponsored religion is a bit like suggesting that a teenager who says \u201cohmygod\u201d every other sentence is being very religious. \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If we are going to ban the mention of \u201cGod\u201d and religious references from the public square, let\u2019s enlist the ACLU and militant atheists in a crusade to ban profanity.  (Scatology [bodily function words] and obscenity [words about things that should take place out of sight, \u201coutside the scene,\u201d such as sex talk] can, of course, remain.)<\/p>\n<div id=\"premium-content\">\nTaking God\u2019s name in vain, curses that consign individuals or objects to eternal punishment, and the like are all primitive and atavistic, if you come to think of it.  And the speech of unbelievers tends to be full of this supercharged religious language.  Its persistence strikes me as an odd proof that the religious impulse is innate and cannot be gotten rid of.\n<p>This reminds me of Hazel Motes in Flannery O\u2019Connor\u2019s novel \u201cWise Blood\u201d who is running away from God and so goes to morally degraded people and places and actions that he thinks are the farthest away from any kind of Christianity.  But the bad language of his new companions\u2013\u201cJesus Christ!\u201d\u2013cuts through him like a knife.  Even in the depths of Sheol, He is there.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the course of a discussion about that litigious atheist who is seeking to censor \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d from the nation\u2019s coins, Pastor Cwirla makes a fascinating point: Newdow is that new breed of assertive atheist who doesn\u2019t want to hear or see the G-word in public, especially at public expense. \u00a0Apparently putting the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,25,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apologetics","category-language","category-literature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Another kind of God-talk in the public square<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the course of a discussion about that litigious atheist who is seeking to censor &quot;In God We Trust&quot; from the nation&#039;s coins, Pastor Cwirla makes a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Another kind of God-talk in the public square\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the course of a discussion about that litigious atheist who is seeking to censor &quot;In God We Trust&quot; from the nation&#039;s coins, Pastor Cwirla makes a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-05-14T10:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/\",\"name\":\"Another kind of God-talk in the public square\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-14T10:00:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-05-14T10:00:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"In the course of a discussion about that litigious atheist who is seeking to censor \\\"In God We Trust\\\" from the nation's coins, Pastor Cwirla makes a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2009\/05\/another-kind-of-god-talk-in-the-public-square\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Another kind of God-talk in the public square\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. 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