A Norse Nation

“America is a Christian nation,” she said to me. “Haven’t you seen the words ‘In God We Trust’ on the dollar bill?”

“The dollar bill isn’t a law,” I said to her. “The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and it says that there shall be no religious test for public office, and that there shall be no law respecting a government establishment of religion.”

“In God We Trust,” she repeated, and walked away from me.

I wondered — Is that what puts one religion in charge of the government, over all others? I searched through the Congressional Record for the current session of Congress, and found that the name of the deity “God” had been mentioned on the floor of the House and Senate 2,357 times.

That seemed like a lot. But then, I saw the U.S. Congress also seemed to endorse the idea that non-Christian gods should be honored on five out of the seven days of the week, and during many of the months of the year as well.

The Norse god Tyr’s day of worship was mentioned by members of Congress more than God: 3,270 times.

The worship of another Norse god, Woden’s Day, was acknowledged 2,627 times.

The Norse thunder god’s holy day, Thursday, was talked about by members of the U.S. Congress 3,060 times.

Friday, the day of worship for the Norse goddess Frigg, was discussed 2,726 times.

Saturn, the Titan of ancient Greek religion, didn’t get as much devotion from the U.S. Congress, with just 540 mentions of his holy day Saturday.

Does Jesus have a day of the week named after him? No. What about the Christian god? Nope, nothing.

“It looks like the United States is a Norse nation,” I would say to her the next time we met.

I never saw her again.