In God We Trust

In God We Trust

I paid my taxes last week and found Ron Wright’s personal slogan — “In God We Trust” — emblazoned on every page, and then I read the front-page article on my Christian tax collector. (“Mentioning Hitler, Tarrant’s tax man drops United Way,” Thursday)

It seems Wright will not be supporting United Way because the organization tangentially forwards small gifts to Planned Parenthood if people want.

Wright makes it clear to all those who work for him that United Way is good, but Planned Parenthood is evil — Hitler evil.

In Wright’s world, and also the world of County Commissioner Andy Nguyen, their faith provides clear marching orders as to what is good and what is evil, and it is their job, elected jobs no less, to “share” those beliefs.

If either man had any real interest in hearing how messy, how complicated, how difficult and expensive life can be for women, especially childbearing women, then they might not have such clarity about women’s lives.

“In God We Trust” is not a slogan, as your Oct. 2 editorial condescendingly stated. (“The slogan’s great, but why use it to stir fears?”)

It’s the official motto of the U.S. And the fact that it was adopted during the Cold War does not diminish its validity or its importance to most Americans.

“In God We Trust” was an unofficial U.S. motto for more than 100 years before that.

It first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864, and it originated with the writing of The Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key in 1814.

The fourth stanza of the famous poem includes this line: “And this be our motto: ‘In God is our trust.’ ”

Needless rancor? It’s our national motto! It’s historic, it’s iconic, and it speaks volumes about us as a people.

Its appearance on any government vehicle or document is entirely appropriate.

As individuals, Wright and Andy Nguyen have every right to support or attack any charity they choose.

As elected officials, they don’t have the right to push a religious agenda.

Some people say that putting “In God We Trust” on public property is not promoting religion, and certainly not Christianity in particular.

Aren’t these the same people who claim that removing the slogan is an attack on religion, and Christians in particular?

Yea for Ron Wright! I stopped giving to United Way long ago because other gifts went to Planned Parenthood. Abortion is the murder of innocents, and they only have a voice through those who oppose abortion.

Ron Wright is wrong to make the other organizations that United Way helps suffer because he doesn’t agree with one.

Wright and Nguyen should be ashamed.

I hope county employees will continue to support United Way and give as they choose.

If a person does not want to support Planned Parenthood or any other organization, that is his or her choice.

However, when Ron Wright brings up Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan and asserts that any good another organization might do “does not compensate for the evil that’s being done by Planned Parenthood,” he goes way over the line.

Wright uses a standard of what is right vs. wrong. It’s wrong to kill people. We know this in our hearts. Just because it is legal to abort a fetus doesn’t make it right.

Someone should point out to Wright that it was Benito Mussolini, not Adolf Hitler, who “made the trains run on time.” Hitler’s trains were an entirely different subject.

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 6:32 PM with the headline "In God We Trust."