DICK BAYNTON: Tolerance As a One-Way Street

Dick Baynton

Your first financial transaction could have been when you were a six or seven year-old and one of your parents gave you a quarter for a candy bar. As your tiny fingers placed that coin on the counter in exchange for a candy bar or ice cream cone it became a banner day; a forerunner of thousands of financial transactions you would make over your lifetime.

Let’s consider our currency; first the six coins of the realm: The penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half-dollar and one dollar coins. These coins are all made from different composites of metals and have various impressions and meaningful words on them. One word of great importance is ‘Liberty.’ Another is the unmistakable words, ‘United States of America.’ The dollar bill has many details of significance including the Latin words, ‘Annuit Coeptis’ meaning ‘He (God) approves of the undertakings’ and the Latin ‘Novus Ordo Seclorum’ meaning ‘New World Order.’

On the reverse side of the dollar bill appears the ‘The Great Seal of The United States of America with the front side (eagle) on the right and the reverse side on the left (the pyramid and eye). The eagle on the Great Seal depicts our national symbol of a bald eagle with an olive branch containing 13 leaves in its left talon, 13 arrows in its right talon and 13 stripes of alternating red and white with a blue band across the top of the shield on the eagle’s back. Above the eagle’s head are 13 stars representing a new constellation in the universe.

And here is the big deal: Every coin and every denomination of ‘paper’ currency also has the plain English words, “In God We Trust.” Our coins of the realm and our currency called ‘Federal Reserve Notes’ command the trust and confidence of all who dispense and receive our currency. And in general, our money is most often considered par currency in exchange for other currencies throughout the world.

But this column today is not about currency; it’s about tolerance. Our nation’s fighters and founders had an image of Almighty God as their guide. Our currency says so; In God we Trust. On the other hand, we welcome people into our citizenry who are atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and other faiths. The only requirement to being a happy and productive long-term citizen is that you obey federal laws and the statutes of your state and local government. Citizens, both native and naturalized must not be guilty of insurrection or any effort to overthrow the legitimate government.

We will tolerate the customs of immigrants as long as they don’t infringe on the rights and privileges of fellow citizens. However, tolerance has become a one-way, dead-end street for some people and organizations. Here’s an example; recently Montgomery County, VA Sheriff Hank Partin removed decals from all patrol cars when the ACLU of Virginia and the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Virginia complained. The decal read, “Blessed are the peacemakers…Matthew 5:9.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is reported to be a membership organization of about 11,000 members. If that number counts just those in the United States, there must be about 270 FFRF members here based on Virginia’s population of a little over eight million. So we have a slim minority of zealots telling the rest of us that the decal “raised concerns that the decals could be seen as promoting one religion over another.” The logic of these forecasters of fate is thinner than a three-minute rainfall on a six foot sidewalk.

The billions of people who walk the earth daily are confronted with Coca-Cola promoting their sugar-borne carbonated drinks. Pepsi-Cola promotes their refreshments. Ford promotes their cars as superior to all others while GM assures us that theirs are the best. Politicians promote themselves and their promises. Are we to believe some sleazy organization headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin since 1978 can tell us that an atheist walking by a patrol car in Christiansburg, VA is going to be deeply offended?

The laws that allow FFRF and the ACLU to finagle these changes are the same laws that we should use to expose their total lack of sagacity, tolerance and common sense.

Dick Baynton

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