The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Judeo-Christian heritage not welcome at Capitol Visitor Center

By Doug Carlson - Dec 9, 2008 - 6

The ribbon was cut on the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) last week with all the expected fanfare. Theaters, galleries, original founding-era documents, a scale model of the Capitol building, and interactive computers line the now-complete exhibition hall intended to provide Capitol visitors with a history of Congress, the nation’s first branch of power. The real news, though, is not what’s on display but what’s noticeably missing—America’s Judeo-Christian heritage.

For months, widespread reports of a scrubbing of references to our religious heritage from the CVC have been circulating. I received firsthand confirmation upon my visit. The six-year, $621 million project, a 580,000-square-foot underground complex beneath the eastern side of the Capitol, might best be described as an insult to our nation’s rich religious heritage and our founding fathers’ acknowledgment of and reliance upon God.

Prominent mention of “God” is found only once in the CVC. That mention occurs in our national motto, “In God We Trust,” atop the speaker’s rostrum in a theater replication of the House chamber.

It appears, though, that the historians involved in telling our nation’s history to the millions of people who will pass through the CVC every year forgot that “In God We Trust” is our national motto. In another place in the massive complex an engraving declares that the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” (meaning “out of many, one”) is “The Nation’s Motto.” “E Pluribus Unum” was replaced with “In God We Trust” as our national motto more than 50 years ago. Fortunately, this blatant error was caught before the center opened, but not in time to correct the problem adequately. Today, someone visiting the center will find the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” with a poor plaster job covering up the engraving that declared it to be the nation’s motto. The poorly done patch work is visible upon entering the exhibition hall and, upon close inspection, the errant text can still be read through the plaster!

One of the CVC’s few other indicators of our religious heritage—albeit discreet and in fine text—is a reference to the Northwest Ordinance’s inclusion of the words “religion, morality, and knowledge.” The Pledge of Allegiance, which recognizes that we are a nation “under God,” is noticeably absent. So are our founding fathers’ appeals to a higher power in governance, such as George Washington’s acknowledgment that “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” And his presidential successor John Adams’ reflection that “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

To be certain not to overlook anything, I inquired of multiple CVC staff whether the center includes references to our nation’s religious heritage. The four echoed similar refrains: “No, not really.” “I don’t think it includes anything.”

Sadly, Americans are fortunate to have in the CVC even a single reference to the nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage. The sole “In God We Trust” engraving, for example, was a late addition. Inclusion of a few religious references was agreed to by congressional committees with jurisdiction only after a drawn out fight with an incensed bloc of Congress. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) laid out his concerns on a CVC devoid of historic religious content in a letter earlier this year to the Rules Committee. The Congressional Prayer Caucus chairman, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), along with 107 House colleagues, expressed similar sentiment in a letter to the Architect of the Capitol. The agreements have not yet been met in full, including engraving the Pledge of Allegiance in stone in a “prominent” location. All told, the changes and additions to ensure “God” is not censured altogether from the CVC have been estimated at a price tag of $150,000.

Whether the whitewashing of our religious heritage has been careless oversight or calculated maneuvering, an undercurrent by some contingents to expel all things religious from the public square is evident. The incomplete treatment of America’s religious history makes a mockery of that for which our founders “pledge[d],” according to the Declaration of Independence, “[their] lives, [their] fortunes, and [their] sacred honor.” At roughly $1,070 per square foot, nearly nine times over budget, and some four years overdue, the Capitol Visitor Center in its current form, largely devoid of any reference to our nation’s faith in God, is an excessive use of taxpayer dollars for a distorted portrayal of our history for this generation and generations to come.

If you agree, please tell your congressman and senators that you want our religious heritage to be given its rightful place in the Capitol Visitor Center.

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