It might be argued that the passages quoted reveal the essentially irrelevant role of religion in the very secular society that is America. A cynical observer might even say that an American President has to mention God or risk losing votes. It might be countered that the very way in which Kennedy made his references reveals the essentially vestigial place of religion today. Following this line of argument, it is worth considering whether the very special placing of the references to God in Kennedy’s address may not reveal something rather important and serious about religion in American life. Just below the surface throughout Kennedy’s inaugural address, it becomes explicit in the closing statement that God’s work must be our own. As fun as it is to collect these REQ packs and work toward unlocking new things, they are subject to an ugly economic reality that may well compel you to spend even more money on a $60 game… It reaffirms, among other things, the religious legitimation of the highest political authority. This public religious dimension is expressed in a set of beliefs, symbols, and rituals that I am calling American civil religion.

The answer is that the separation of church and state has not denied the political realm a religious dimension. Considering the separation of church and state, how is a president justified in using the word “God” at all? He did not refer to Jesus Christ, or to Moses, or to the Christian church; certainly he did not refer to the Catholic church. The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church and officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. But why, then, did he not include some remark to the effect that Christ is the Lord of the world or some indication of respect for the Catholic church? Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona, Spain, is a Roman Catholic church that was named a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010. Construction began in 1882, and it’s still under construction. Conceived in justice, written in liberty, bound in union, it was meant one day to inspire the hopes of all mankind; and it binds us still. Of course we can get critical and say that few if any gave glory to God for their abject failures – ‘I want to thank God that I was completely knackered on the day and did so poorly.’ But, it is still great to see people honouring God for his part in their achievements.

But we know enough about the function of ceremonial and ritual in various societies to make us suspicious of dismissing something as unimportant because it is “only a ritual.” What people say on solemn occasions need not be taken at face value, but it is often indicative of deep-seated values and commitments that are not made explicit in the course of everyday life. The placing of the references in this speech as well as in public life generally indicates that religion “has only a ceremonial significance”; it gets only a sentimental nod that serves largely to placate the more unenlightened members of the community before a discussion of the really serious business with which religion has nothing whatever to do. Let us consider first the placing of the three references. There are four references to God. In his case, it took about a year and four months from the time he started seeking the Lord for healing until he received. Since the time of Augustine, this passage has been the starting point for all discussions of government.

When Kennedy says that “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God,” he is stressing this point again. They came already here-the exile and the stranger, brave but frightened-to find a place where a man could be his own man. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of man more than those of the United States. God has led his people to establish a new sort of social order that shall be a light unto all the nations. In chapter 8, book 4 of The Social Contract, he outlines the simple dogmas of the civil religion: the existence of God, the life to come, the reward of virtue and the punishment of vice, and the exclusion of religious intolerance. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that he made the world and govern’d it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing of good to men; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded either here or hereafter. He isn’t watching you in the hope of catching doing something wrong.