The Rebuttal

So apparently my letter to the editor WAS published in the Lowell Sun, back on 9/24/07.. and I didnt even know it! And today, there was a rebuttal published:


U.S. government founded on Christian principles
The Lowell Sun 11/0/07
I would very much appreciate an opportunity to respond to Jamie Green, the Harvard Divinity School student whose letter to The Sun, printed on Sept. 24, spelled out several of his reasons why "In God We Trust" should not appear on our coins or currency. He posed several.
First mentioned was religious freedom and our need to recognize that not all folks in America believe as we historically did and the vast majority do currently. Quite true and, in fact, some have no belief in a supreme being at all. That acknowledged, my response to this is twofold.
Our America was founded, for the most part, by ardent, hard-working Christians, and the government they subsequently founded was erected upon Christian principles. They were not unaware that other folks had other beliefs, or none at all. The nation they created welcomed all varieties of newcomers, the only caveat being that these new citizens recognize and honor the freedoms offered them. If you are invited into someone's home to live, you have no business attempting to rearrange the furniture. If you don't like it, move out.
As far as the coin motto is concerned, Mr. Green, upon close inspection, might note the touch of irony present and its sly implication that while holding a coin whose metal content has been debased, or a piece of paper which no longer may be exchanged for silver by the issuing government that there is a Christian God with whom one may place his complete faith if he so wishes: Hardly trivial.
Lastly, Mr. Green's reference to a number of Biblical references to money and their admonitions regarding its proper acquisition and disposal recalled to my mind the works of one of W. Somerset Maugham's characters who said, "Money is like a sixth sense, without which you cannot enjoy the other five." If it makes you feel good to give away your money, be my guest.
VERTON W. LENFEST
North Chelmsford


1) I am not a HE or a MR!!! Was this guy being sexist and assuming that because I go to Harvard and wrote this letter that I must be a man?

2) I am not planning on moving out of the country because I want to "rearrange the furniture." Sometimes it is time for change, and I believe that time is now. Things cannot continue to go on the way they've always been going or the way they are currently. It's time for a revolution! (but not a war!)

3) I do like the "irony" he touches upon, however, it would be sufficient to simply touch upon this irony in a discussion, sermon illustration, etc.... I do NOT think it is that a solid explanation as to why In God We Trust should be printed on money! Just because our fallen condition sort of resembles the declining worth in dollars? Just because God can redeem that which is fallen? This is hardly the reason why the motto is printed in money, and it is hardly the explanation people would connect the motto to.

4) My gut reaction was: Money IS NOT required to enjoy your five god given senses!!! You can be dirt poor, you can have given EVERYTHING away, and you can still SEE the beauty of God's creation, you can still TASTE the salt in the ocean, you can still TOUCH the smooth rocks, you can still SMELL the flowers, and you can still HEAR the birds. MONEY is NOT REQUIRED!!! And just because one guy said it, it doesnt mean that it is absolute capital T Truth. Shouldn't we take everything humans say with a grain of salt? And especially since this statement does not correspond with ANYTHING in the bible, I would like to join my brothers Amos, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and all my other favorite prophets of the OT, and call this guy a false prophet.

On second thought, I got inspired and did some quick research on the Maugham guy. He was a british novelist, playwright, short-story writer, and highest paid author in the world in the 1930s. Despite his popularity, Maugham did not gain serious recognition. So he writes fiction... yet Lenfest used his quote as truth. Ok, so then I looked up where the quote came from, it's from one his novels, "On Human Bondage." Here is the context of the quote in question:
Monsieur Foinet rolled himself a cigarette and lit it.
"You have very little private means?" he asked at last.
"Very little," answered Philip, with a sudden feeling of cold at his heart. "Not enough to live on."
"There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood. I have nothing but con- tempt for the people who despise money. They are hypo- crites or fools. Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five. With- out an adequate income half the possibilities of life are shut off. The only thing to be careful about is that you do not pay more than a shilling for the shilling you earn. You will hear people say that poverty is the best spur to the artist. They have never felt the iron of it in their flesh. They do not know how mean it makes you. It ex- poses you to endless humiliation, it cuts your wings, it eats into your soul like a cancer. It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work un- hampered, to be generous, frank, and independent. I pity with all my heart the artist, whether he writes or paints, who is entirely dependent for subsistence upon his art."

It is interesting viewing this quote in this way. Maugham more supports what I believe: that the world cannot function is there are some who have MUCH and some who have LITTLE. People deserve a fair wage, a decent standard of living. In this society, it means having money. But not a lot of money, just "enough" money. So if you happen to have MORE than enough money, you SHOULD give some away. So thank you Lenfest, for providing support for my own argument!

Ok that is all! ... for now :)