Should Under God We Trust be taken off US currency Essay

Should Under God We Trust be taken off US currency - Essay Example It is then a bit troubling and awkward for the US treasury to continue to print money bills with the phrase â€Å"In God We Trust.† This essay provides arguments to the position that the US should eliminate the use of this phrase in the printing of future currency bills. To understand why the religious motto â€Å"In God We Trust† is utilized in the printing of money it is essential to look at the history of this event. The motto was first utilized right after the civil war in America to serve as a sign of peace and unity among U.S citizens who were separated by internal conflict and need a common reminder of higher being watching over the horrendous acts being committed in a war. At that time it may have been justified, but in modern times this religious connotation should have been eliminated a long time ago. If our education system prohibits the teaching of religion in our public school system, then why should our economic system openly promote religion through a slogan? The utilization of this slogan contradicts the official position of the US government of separating state and the church. President Theodore Roosevelt once expressed in a letter his position on the issue, â€Å"My own feeling in the matter is due to my firm conviction tha t to put such a motto on coins, or use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good but does positive harm, and in effect irreverence which comes dangerously close to sacrilege† (Procon, 2008). The utilization of this motto sets forth a precedent right before our eyes that discriminate against believer of other religions that are not Christian based. Since other religions such as Buddhism and Muslim do not believe in god, instead they refer to the almighty as Buddha or Allah. â€Å"In this nation that is suppose to be this beacon of religious liberty. What’s next? ‘In Jesus We Trust’ ’In Protestantism We Trust’ † (Newdow, 2006). The US government is taking an official stance in preference of Christians; when the

Social Responsibility and the Traditional College Student Research Paper

Social Responsibility and the Traditional College Student - Research Paper Example Freshman, all too often students leave for college and have no idea what the next chapter of their life will consist of in college. They understand they are headed to college and they are expected to attend class, make the grades, and graduate to get a good job. What they do not realize is that it is hardly that simple. There is so much more to the college experience aside from the obvious and one thing I feel traditional students lack is an understanding of personal responsibility. Students embrace the absence of their parents with the new gained freedom but the end result is binge drinking, campus reports of rape, alcohol poisoning, and lowered retention rates. It has been understood that in order to cultivate the values of responsibility, and good citizenship in the next generation that active investment is desirable for the purpose of civic responsibility. Apart from simply academic endeavors, productive and stable society needs in socially minded individuals able to give due dil igence to the needs of the community, and interest of a multicultural integration for the betterment of the whole. A time-honored strategy which serves as both an indicator and an encouragement of civic responsibility would be the fostering of voluntary service programs, often involving college students. Primarily, the evaluation for any such program at the college level is whether and to what extent the program or intervention measure benefits the students collectively. Involvement in voluntary service initiatives can be useful in the strategic planning for institutional policy in the long run. While civic responsibility and social awareness are desirable traits, and such programs by definition should be bereft of a profit motive, there must still be some nod to the principle of efficiency. What is the most effective use of the institution's time and resources with an eye towards long-term objectives of cultivating social responsibility? The investigation of programs and interventi ons that promote student responsibility are valuable for long-term planning purposes, but the body of literature concerning longitudinal research on the subject remains sparse. There are findings that indicate voluntary service programs can provide gains in civic responsibility, as well as cognitive performance – but more work is needed to fully quantify to what extent such gains are likely. And critics would suggest that many such studies concerning cognitive gains with respect to voluntary programs demonstrate limited evidence of effectiveness beyond the originating college campus. (Astin & Sax, 1998), (Batchelder & Root, 1994) Literature Review To integrate the subject of personal responsibility into curriculum would serve them well. Like a College 101 but on the social end rather than the academics end. In the article, â€Å"Teaching Students Personal and Social Responsibility With Measureable Learning Outcomes†, the topic of personal and social responsibility was addressed with regards to the 21st century college student. There was a study done at Rollins College (a small private liberal arts school) and Winthrop University (medium-sized, public comprehensive university) to evaluate personal and social responsibility; they created Core Commitments as a guiding philosophy (AAC&U,