Mystery

nBY LORENZO ALBACETE

Have you ever thought of the state of Ohio as a former empire? Well, for one glorious year the Empire of Ohio existed, at least in the mind of its legislature. Back in 1866 the Ohio legislature approved ìImperio in Imperiumî (ìEmpire Within an Empireî) as the official state motto. However, there was great resistance to the motto by the freedom-loving, democratic citizens of Ohio. Plus, I imagine, ìEmpire of Ohioî just doesnít sound too awesome. Who knows, perhaps this is what began all those Cleveland jokes. Anyway, the legislature dropped it, and so for the next 92 years, Ohio was the only state without a motto. Officially, it stood for nothing. No one seemed to worry about it. They probably thought that it matched the ethos of the place.

In 1959, a 12-year-old Cincinnati boy found this intolerable. I donít know what he was thinking about when he did it, but he proposed the motto, ìWith God, all things are possible.î The legislature liked it. Maybe it gave them hope for the future of Ohio. This time no one objected. Perhaps no one really cared. Or else, they might have thought that it corresponded quite well with the spirit of the state: ìDo not despair, citizens of the former Empire of Ohio! With God all things are possible!î

Until 1996, that is. At that time, the governor visited India and noticed the slogan, ìGovernmentís Work is Godís Workî in a public building. India does this to you; it kind of awakens your religious sense. Therefore, the governor began a campaign to have Ohioís motto inscribed at the State Capitol Building. Surely it would bring about a wave of religious sentiment in Ohio. It could do wonders for state tourism. People might travel from all over to study under Ohio gurus. In any case, it might move legislators to take his proposed legislation more seriously, being reminded every day that with God all things are possible.

But alas, the American Civil Liberties Union, ever anxious to prevent theocratic ambition from raising its ugly head, especially in Ohio with its imperialist tradition, filed a lawsuit against the proposal. Surprisingly, a federal judge in Columbus ruled against the ACLU, arguing that no one in Ohio knew for certain that the motto came from Christian sacred scripture, so it couldnít be tied to any particular religious confession. The ACLU appealed, and won the case this month in the Court of Appeals. The appeal judges actually had a more optimistic view about the knowledge of scripture in Ohio, since it argued that the state motto would be recognized as Christian scripture. This, it concluded, was clearly unconstitutional.

Fully aware of the difference between the expression of a religious sense and the assertion of the origin of the Christian claim, the Court said that a state motto may refer to God. Indeed, the Supreme Court allows the currency to refer to Him directly, and there is also the Pledge of Allegianceís reference to being ìunder Godîñas long as it is not tied to any particular manifestation of the Mystery; as long as God remains tucked away in the heavens as the Unutterable who lives in inaccessible light. As a lawyer for the ACLU had said, Ohioís motto ìis the words of Jesus speaking about salvationÖ itís not the same as ëin God we trust.í No one knows what that means.î Ignorance about the Mystery threatens no one, but beware of any claim that the Mystery has become a Presence in history! This is what religious liberty has come to, officially, in the United States today.

It points to a great temptation facing the Church: in order to attain acceptability, the temptation is to promote the ìvaluesî that keep society safe under the protection of the ruling powers. It happened before. The Roman Empire was willing to recognize the Christian faith if it supported the value of good citizenship, but Tertullian saw through it when he wrote that Christ did not come to teach good manners, but the Truth. Religious sentimentality is harmless or even socially useful; faith is considered dangerous.

Actually, the Appeals Court may be right. This motto is a threat to the dominant motivation in American life these days. It comes from Mathew 19:26. Remember the context? It is Jesusí answer to the apostlesí despair about salvation. The teaching was about riches. ìIt is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.î