The national motto of the United States should be changed.

Good luck in your final round. -------- I would also like to introduce a new definition: Motto: 1. a short saying expressing the guiding maxim or ideal of a family or organization, esp. when part of a coat of arms 2. a verse or maxim contained in a paper cracker 3. a quotation prefacing a book or chapter of a book [Italian] (Source: . http://www.thefreedictionary.com...) For the purposes of the remainder of the debate, definition 1 seems the most appropriate since the national motto is not a verse in a paper cracker, nor is it a quotation prefacing a book or a chapter. ====== Definition of God ====== My opponents case is doomed from the very first words of his argument. He attempts to take the religion out of the phrase "In God We Trust". He posts (without citation) the Merriam-Webster definition of 'god', which incidentally also includes the definition of 'God'. (. http://www.merriam-webster.com...) The problem with Con's argument comes from his choice of definition. He attempts to use one of the definitions for small g 'god', when the national motto is using capital g 'God'. Glancing back at the definition provided by Con, the capitalized version refers only to a deity (see definition 1a and 1b). By using the proper definition (1a and/or 1b) we see that the national motto is referring to monotheistic religion. I will discuss this in the second section below. ====== Christianity - Judaism - Islam ====== Con claims that it is not the Christian god in particular that is referenced in the national motto. A quick recounting of the names of the gods of the three monotheistic religions will reveal that the motto could only have one of these in mind. Below are the names of the deity commonly used for each: Judaism - Yahweh Islam - Allah Christianity - God From this we can eliminate the idea that the motto referring to all religions. Even if it is referencing religion in general, it is still a preference for theism over non-theism by nationally recognizing a "Being perfect in power. .. " ====== Theism in General ====== My opponents final relevant point (I am excluding the evolution/ID issue due to its irrelevance in this debate) is that the motto does not specify Christianity in particular, therefore it does no violate the Establishment clause. Although I have shown this to be wrong in the section above, I will still show how favoring theism over non-theism is still a violation. ----- As we have seen by the definition of capital g 'God', the motto is referring to a monotheistic religion (or, theism in general). We have also seen, in my first round argument, that the Establishment Clause prohibits the federal government from forcing an individual "to profess belief or disbelief in any religion. " Finally, we have seen from the definition of motto provided above, that a motto is "a short saying expressing the guiding maxim or ideal of a family or organization. " In our representative form of government, anything passed by the government is a representation of the populace. So when the federal government officially professes a belief in religion (as they did in making our national motto 'In God We Trust'), the entire population of legal U. S. citizens is professing a belief in religion. Unfortunately, the Establishment Clause strictly prohibits the federal government from forcing anyone to profess a belief in religion. Therefore, in forcing the entire U. S. population to profess a belief in religion, the federal government was violating the First Amendment. As such, the national motto should be changed because it is a violation of the U. S. Constitution. The resolution is affirmed.