Capitol Visitor Center

Should the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. have the correct national motto? If you think that the answer to that should be obvious and without controversy, you would be wrong.

When the new visitor center at the U.S. Capitol opened last December, a number of members of Congress thought it was both incomplete and incorrect. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) felt the center misrepresented our nation’s history by downplaying the faith of the founding fathers and other prominent figures. At the time, he said that the center’s “most prominent display proclaims faith not in God, but in government.” He was objecting to a quote that said: “We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common oracle but the Constitution.”

Of greater concern was the fact that the center erroneously posted “E Pluribus Unum” as the national motto. That used to be our national motto, but the current one is “In God We Trust.” Members of Congress asked that both the National Motto and the Pledge of Allegiance be engraved in a wall at the Capitol Visitor Center.

If you thought the omission of the motto and pledge were a mere oversight, once again you would be wrong. The center has been in the planning and building stages for years. When it opened in December, it was three years late and $360 million over budget. There was ample time to get it right.

Both the House and Senate passed resolutions approving the engravings of the National Motto and the Pledge of Allegiance. But as I mentioned, even this action was not without controversy. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed suit to prevent the engravings. They argue that posting these words would discriminate against agnostics and atheists.

Representative Steve King (R-IA) believes: “This lawsuit is another attempt by liberal activists to rewrite history and deny that America’s Judeo-Christian heritage is an essential foundation stone of our great nation.” First, was the bureaucratic resistance to posting the National Motto and the Pledge of Allegiance. Now there is a lawsuit attempting to prevent the words from appearing at the Capitol Visitor Center.

Welcome to the current battle over America’s history. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.