E pluribus unum had a good run, but...

“E pluribus unum” is out. “Id quod circumiret, circumveniat” is in.

E pluribus unum was the motto of the United States of America from 1776. Though it continues to appear on a banner in an eagle’s beak on our currency, its official status was abandoned by Congress in 1956, replaced by “In God We Trust.”

The Latin phrase, comprised coincidentally of 13 letters, was chosen by the founders to recognize a unified nation had been created of 13 colonies, i.e. out of many, came one.” Cicero used the term 44 years before the birth of Christ to define the bonds of family and successful societies. “When each person loves the other as much as himself, it makes one out of many,” said the Roman statesman.

For 180 years e pluribus unum served as our national identity. During those years, the U.S. became the world’s most powerful nation, unified in many peoples, interests, races, cultures, and religions, founded in the words of the Constitution.

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.”

E pluribus unum had a good run. Under the motto, our nation refused to be divided by civil war, heeding Lincoln’s warning. A “house divided against itself cannot stand.” A belief in unity allowed us to avoid ruination during economic catastrophes like the Great Depression. As a unified people, we met the threats of two World Wars.

Each succeeding generation found its way to secure and expand the blessings of liberty. Those excluded from full participation in the life of the country at the start were gradually given that right; Native Americans given citizenship, women allowed to vote, and slowly but inevitably, the rights of racial minorities received the protections of law.

Immigrants were welcomed. They came by the millions, putting their stamp on the successes of the U.S. over decades. School children were taught their country was a melting pot. All were welcomed under the banner “e pluribus unum.”

Ironically, it all began to change when, in 1956, Congress changed the motto to “In God We Trust.” Soon after the change, the national consensus began to unravel. Americans could understand that from many could come unity, but they never figured out which God to trust. Many thought it was an opportunity to impose their God on others.

It wasn’t long before some Christians had to be told by the Supreme Court they could not establish their God as the only one to trust by imposing Christian prayers on school children. That was 1962. They’re still whining about it.

Then came the Civil Rights Act of 1964, raising concern among many whites that there were only so many blessings of liberty to go around. Then Roe v. Wade determined that one’s understanding of God could not be used as a pretext for making reproductive choices for all women. The longest running religious war in history was underway and continues yet today.

The God some trusted said, “Treat the foreigner as native born.” Others, claiming to trust the same God suggested God was winking when God said that. Immigrants who helped make us one, were hunted down and deported, their children placed in detention camps. Some didn’t trust any God who said, “Love thy neighbor,” because that required tolerating gays and lesbians.

Attempts to impose one’s God on others proved more than a little divisive. In that political environment someone could become a Supreme Court justice after warning the country, “Id quod circumiret, circumveniat,” meaning “what goes around, comes around.”   

“Id quod circumiret, circumveniat” has become the nation’s de facto motto, the way in which our government, with the consent of the voters, now does business, proving Lincoln right. A nation divided against itself cannot stand. It’s only a matter of time.