The U.S. is not a theocracy, thank god. Although there are members of Congress who want it to be one. That would include South Carolina’s Jim DeMint who wants the new taxpayer funded visitor center at the Capitol to have a more “God” in it. Bob Geiger has the details (and eviscerates DeMint in the process):

Showing once again that whenever a transformational leader like Barack Obama comes along to lead the nation into the future, the Republican party is always there to drag us backwards, Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) tried to delay the grand opening of the new Capitol Visitor Center in Washington because be thinks there just isn’t enough mention of God in the facility.

Saying that the $621 million historical exhibit is “left-leaning” and leaves out America’s “history of faith,” DeMint tried to use his Senatorial clout to delay the center’s opening on Tuesday and, among other things, wanted the original national motto of “E. Pluribus Unum” — “from many, one” in Latin — replaced with “In God We Trust.”

“The Capitol Visitor Center is designed to tell the history and purpose of our nation’s Capitol, but it fails to appropriately honor our religious heritage that has been critical to America’s success,” said DeMint.

What DeMint’s religious-right stunt leaves out is that the purpose of the center is to provide an “…educational environment for visitors to learn about the unique characteristics of the House and the Senate and the legislative process” and to teach about our system of Government — not to talk about the private religious practices of the nation’s Senators and Representatives.