Religious Heritage?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/12/02/capitol.visitor.center/index.html

A new $621 million dollar visitors center has just opened outside the United States capital. The facility is “built under the Capitol's east grounds to make it unobtrusive, presents historic artifacts from across the country and teaches guests about the House of Representatives and the Senate.” It features “ skylights offer[ing] striking views of the 215-year-old [Capitol] building above,” orientation theaters, exhibits, and even a restaurant.

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/12/02/demint-capitol-visitor-center-fails-to-honor-faith/

Some, most notably Senator Jim DeMint, the republican representative from South Carolina, have criticized the new facility for “omitting the history of faith,” noting that the center is void of the phrase “In God We Trust” and the Pledge of Allegiance. DeMint claims that the center “proclaims faith not in God, but in government.” Upon entering the facility, visitors face a large engraving which states “We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common oracle but the Constitution.” In an official statement, DeMint claims that the center is “an intentional misrepresentation of our nation's real history, and an offensive refusal to honor America's God-given blessings.” He then offers an excerpt of George Washington's inaugural address to support his claim that “the fundamental principles of the freedom we enjoy in this country stem from our Founding Fathers’ beliefs in a higher power.”:

“It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the Councils of Nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United States”

Senator DeMint's criticism raises several interesting questions for us to ponder. By failing to include references to a higher power, does the visitors center misrepresent the historical tradition of the United States' government? Is it appropriate for the United States government to promote an “areligious” interpretation of this nation's history? (I know I may have just made up a word, but just go with it.) The large engraving at the entrance inherently reject the religion of the ancient Greeks, with their “temples” and “oracles.” It also, however, seems to reject any notion of a higher power, which seems inconsistent with the historical tradition of the United States government.

Through class readings, especially Meachem's American Gospel, we've learned that the founding fathers were certainly not an explicitly Christian group, and included many who espoused agnostic religious views. The overall spirit emerging from the founding of this nation, however, seems to reflect a relatively strong deist perspective. Even Thomas Jefferson, far from the confines of a traditional Christian or religious tradition, penned in the first draft of the Declaration of Independence that “Nature's God” provided gifts to mankind and that all men “are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights,” a view which Meachem calls “a religious vision of the world with roots both in classical philosophy and in holy scripture.” (page 7, American Gospel.) I feel that by failing to make reference to any deity or higher power, the new visitors center has failed to adequately reflect the tradition of our founding fathers and features only our roots in “classical philosophy,” rejecting any influence of “holy scripture” or the notion of a God. Your thoughts?