Sunday, June 29, 2008

In Whatever We Trust (gods, goddesses, godlessness, gaia, the great spirit, the one mind, dogs, puppies, the void?)

On May 28, 2008, Nepal officially abolished the monarchy, declaring itself a republic. As the world's newest secular republic, no longer will currency be imprinted with "In Shiva We Trust," nor will schoolchildren be forced to pledge allegiance to "one kingdom, under the divine protection of the deity Shiva, and his representative, our holy king." But, of course, I am joking. They never had those things. I just made that up. Even an officially Hindu kingdom didn't force you to swear an oath of loyalty to Shiva in order for you to attend public schools there. You would have to go to the United States to find "In God We Trust" printed on the currency and children (of all and none faiths, even non-citizens) obliged to swear an oath of allegiance to the "Republik Forwitchitstans, One-Nation Undergod".

Hindu children moving from the newly secular republic of Nepal to the United States would find themselves in public school classrooms where their polytheistic beliefs are, like the beliefs of atheists, pantheists, agnostics, secular humanists, mystics, and others, ritualistically disrespected daily by the imposition of the judeo-christo-islamic unigod Pledge "Oval Lesions".

To be fair, I think you could argue that it is more offensive to have the images of national heroes, the local Attila the Hun, on your national currency, than it is to have dedications to the more universal and abstract deities. On the other hand, monarchs and the like have their function in places like Thailand, where they represent and draw power from the people and are a powerful force to check the power-hungry generals from myanmarizing the kingdom.

Interestingly, Novus Ordo Seclorum and Annuit Cœptis both come from poems to the Roman god Jupiter. Via Wikipedia:

"Annuit Cœptis" and the other motto on the reverse of the Great Seal, "Novus Ordo Seclorum," can both be traced to lines by the Roman poet Virgil. "Annuit Cœptis" comes from the Aeneid, book IX, line 625, which reads, "Iuppiter omnipotens, audacibus adnue cœptis." It is a prayer by Ascanius, the son of the hero of the story, Aeneas, which translates to, "Jupiter Almighty, favour [my] daring undertakings." According to the ancient state religion of Rome, properly called the Cultus Deorum Romanum, Jupiter was head of the pantheon of Gods.

"E Pluribus Unum" is Latin for "Out of Many, One." Never codified by law, it was considered a de facto motto of the United States until 1956 when the United States Congress passed an act (H.J. Resolution 396), adopting In God We Trust as the official motto.

At currently projected rates of spiritual degradation, in one scenario, Jesusland will declare "Jeezus Iz my Master" as its official motto in the year 2025.

In the matter of making a"motto" for the government, if one were needed, I would recommend referring somehow to the positive contributions desired from government: Peace, Justice, Security, Democracy, Liberty, Tolerance, Knowledge, Science, Self-realization and the like. Depending on your government, matter-of-fact affirmations of Genocide, Conquest, and Enslavement may be powerful national anthems, too. Any references to gods or goddesses are probably best read as a giveaway sign that the people are living under an oppressive, parasitic, exploitative, superfluous, redundant ruling class that's pulling the wool over the sheeple's eyes. Governments can and do exploit their subjects while paying lip service to democracy and so on, but it's a little bit harder and keeps the ideals alive.

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