"Dave" wrote
"Vito" said:

Grant's addition of "In God
We Trust" to our money was the camels nose in the tent

You're a bit late on that one. Ever hear the phrase "endowed by their
Creator?"

Sure. It was a phrase carefully chosen to avoid mentioning "God" because
ignorant people might think "God" referred only to *their* God - the
prankster who had Abraham mutilate his penis.

As president, Jefferson found himself in a situation with the Barbary
Pirates similar to the one we find ourselves in today. Altho thrashed by
our Marines (... and the shores of Tripoli ..) the leaders of these Muslim
pirates said they had a God-given duty to attack all Christian shipping.
Jefferson replied that the USA was NOT a Christian nation but rather a
secular nation cantaining Christians and other diverse faiths. That point
made the pirates made peace, but continued to ravage other nations'
commerce. That gave our merchant shipping a rather nice leg up in the Med.

Too bad we forgot that example when displaced European Jews invaded
Palistine.