AKSARBENT: VA Rep. Randy Forbes gives the finger to Founding Fathers; House to vote to affirm religious bumper sticker as national motto; Rep. Lee Terry on board

Virginia Congressman Randy Forbes:
first US motto by John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin and Thomas
Jefferson not good enough for him

"E Pluribus Unum" was the motto proposed for the first Great Seal of the United States by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson in 1776. A latin phrase meaning "One from many," the phrase offered a strong statement of the American determination to form a single nation from a collection of states. Over the years, "E Pluribus Unum" has also served as a reminder of America's bold attempt to make one unified nation of people from many different backgrounds and beliefs. The challenge of seeking unity while respecting diversity has played a critical role in shaping our history, our literature, and our national character.

— E Pluribus Unum Project

In 1956, a year after the phrase "under God" was inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance, the divisive, exclusionary phrase “In God We Trust” was made the official U.S. motto, replacing the eloquent, respectful-of-diversity adage that the nation's founding fathers first gave the our nation: E Pluribus Unum.

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on a resolution to affirm the phrase “In God We Trust” as the nation’s official motto, according to Politico's Seung Min Kim.

Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), the founder and chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, sponsored the legislation. It would encourage the public display of the motto in all public buildings, public schools and government institutions.
     In a committee report, five House Democrats – Reps. John Conyers (Mich.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Bobby Scott (Va.), Melvin Watt (N.C.) and Judy Chu (Calif.) – said Forbes’s bill “creates unnecessary and excessive government entanglement with religion.”
     The resolution was approved by the House Judiciary Committee in March.
     Critics of the resolution said it violated the establishment clause of the Constitution, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.”

Eric Dolan of TheRawStory reported:

“The phrase ‘In God We Trust’ does not apply to the more than 16 percent of Americans who identify themselves as atheist, agnostic, nonreligious, or unaffiliated, and it does not apply to religious Americans who do not have Judeo-Christian beliefs,” said Sean Faircloth, executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. “Branding our secular country with a religious motto only creates division among its citizens and erodes the wall of separation between church and state.”

And who cosponsored House Con. Resolution 274, which encourages the display of a religious slogan "in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions?"