Mary Miller’s “In God We Trust” bill is Christian Nationalism in a nutshell

The Illinois Republican wants a religious slogan on federal buildings while Americans struggle with real problems

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In a symbolic move intended to promote Christian Nationalism while helping nobody, Illinois Rep. Mary Miller—one of the more bigoted Republicans in a party full of them—introduced a bill that would force all federal buildings to display or inscribe the words “In God We Trust.”

Rep. Mary Miller (screenshot via YouTube)

The Hitler-praising Miller, who once said the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a “victory for white life,” said “We will never apologize for being one nation that places its trust in Almighty God.”

The bill itself doesn’t go into much detail other than to say this:

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall inscribe or display in a place of prominence on every public building the national motto of the United States…

Miller’s press release is unintentionally hilarious because, while attempting to explain how the phrase is central to “America’s 250th anniversary,” she basically admits no one used the phrase until well after the country’s founding:

“In God We Trust” was first minted on U.S. coins in 1864, during the Civil War. In 1956, it was designated as the national motto after the bill was passed unanimously by Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Exactly. This wasn’t a phrase anyone really gave a damn about until the 1950s when conservatives also shoved “Under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” onto paper money. It’s not like the Founders were saying it while signing the Constitution.

But no one would expect Miller to be a champion of religious neutrality. She’s the same person who said of an invocation last year that it was “troubling” that a Muslim “was allowed to lead prayer” in the House. “This should have never been allowed to happen,” she added, because “America was founded as a Christian nation.”

The invocation speaker wasn’t Muslim. He was Sikh. She was in such a rush to discriminate against a brown person, she bigoted wrong.

That’s the Christian who’s now trying to force religion in public spaces.

She’s the worst example of a public servant and the sort of hateful person you hope your children never grow up to become. But she thinks forcing her religion onto everyone else will somehow make everything better, all while she goes out of her way to defend Donald Trump at every turn.

There’s no indication of how much this bill would cost if implemented. Or why it’s needed. Or how this will help regular Americans with the actual problems they’re facing, largely due to her party. People are drowning in debt, struggling to afford housing, paying more at gas stations because of Trump’s unnecessary war, and wondering if their children will have fewer rights than they did. And Miller’s contribution to solving any of that is decorative theology. It’s not like she’s doing this alone, though. Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a companion bill last September; no action’s been taken on it yet.

This isn’t really even about faith. If Miller cared about convincing people to become Christian, she might spend her time feeding the hungry, helping immigrants, and protecting children. She sees faith as nothing more than political branding for her allies.

If Illinois Democrats ever decide to get strategic, they’ll gerrymander the state in response to GOP map-rigging, making it fully Democratic, pushing Miller out of office entirely. They’ll be doing a favor to everyone who respects the Constitution.

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