by Dennis Krivda

Created on: April 13, 2010   Last Updated: August 18, 2010

Found on the back of every one-dollar bill printed today, the obverse side of the Great Seal of the United States portrays a steely-eyed American bald eagle proudly carrying a banner in its beak that reads “E pluribus Unum.” Latin for “out of many, one”. The vow of unity served as the de facto motto for the United States of America for nearly two hundred years, until 1956 when Congress adopted the divisive, “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States.

Initially meant to represent the uniting of the thirteen original colonies under one federation, Americans have since broadened the application of E pluribus Unum over the past 250 years to include all of the varied cultures, creeds, and political views found throughout the land.

At its core, E pluribus Unum binds the people of the United States together in the belief that even though we are different on many levels, we can still find strength in our unity and common goals. In God We Trust, by comparison, automatically cleaves the citizenry between those who believe in gods and those who do not; and further splits the believers depending on which faith they call their own.

From the Muslim cab driver in Manhattan to the Guatemalan ranch hand in Wyoming, and from the lesbian wedding planner in Milwaukee to the Episcopalian pastor in Georgia, E pluribus Unum sews together the fabric of American society with an unbreakable thread of conviction to the ideal that every American has value and every American can contribute to the goal of forming a more perfect, a more powerful, and a more prosperous union.

For more than two decades the United States government has steadfastly lighted the path toward true freedom and human dignity by employing the most talented leadership, the best ideas, the wisest judgments, and the deepest compassion for people - no matter which political source produced those ideals.

Recently, though, that practice has fallen victim to the partisan politics created by the two party system in America.

With every passing 24-hour news cycle, the natural limits set by the two party system in the United States clearly function only to perpetuate the political mentality of “us against them.” Like the motto of In God We Trust, the two party system naturally cleaves the electorate into opposing forces.

When the people of a nation habitually think ‘if you’re not with us then you’re against us’, the mindset can only tear a

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