The American Trinity: E Pluribus Unum, In God We Trust, Liberty
With many thanks to Dennis Prager, who enunciated these values.
(This is intended to be a five-minute lesson that you can use in the monthly meeting of your book club, church group, scout group, or other group. Each of the lessons includes a souvenir or memento to help the participants remember the lesson.)
(Hand out a penny to each participant.)
(Lesson alternatively may consist of viewing Dennis Prager video of the American Trinity at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn4IH3yng4k.)
The lesson: Take a look at the penny in your hand. It has inscribed on it the three values that make up the American Trinity – E Pluribus Unum, In God We Trust, and Liberty. The combination of these three values is unique to America.
1. E Pluribus Unum – “From Many, One” We don’t care where you are from, the color of your skin, whether you are rich or poor, or who your parents were. If you join with us and adopt our values, you are an American.
2. In God We Trust – God who gave us the ten commandments is the source of our values. Our rights come from our Creator, not from other men, so they cannot be taken away by other men. That is why people who want to take away our rights first seek to destroy religion and our belief in and reliance on God.
3. Liberty – We are free to use our talents and other resources to pursue our own form of happiness in our own way. We understand that liberty allows some people to achieve much greater wealth than others, and that is fine. American values do not envy success and do not wish to punish the successful. We celebrate other people’s success, understanding that it benefits us all, and we appreciate that we are free to pursue our own success.
Note that “equality” is not part of the American Trinity. We believe that all people are created equal and should be treated equally under the law, but we do not believe in equality of outcome. We think each person should be free to go as far as his dreams, hard work, and luck will take him and should not be punished or held back to make him have an equal outcome with others.
Now, every time you pick up an American coin, you will be reminded of the American Trinity of values
(This lesson and others may be found at JeffersonReview.com. Permission is granted to reproduce these materials.)
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