"All" the references? There were only two... One each in two of the most famous quotes in man's history, one from Patrick Henry and the other from Thomas Jefferson. Frame 4 also had a reference to "life, liberty and the right to religion and property."

Make no mistake about it: I'm an atheist, and probably harder-core than you are; unlike you apparently, however, I am willing to just let the "God" part of those two quotes kind of slide off into cyberspace and appreciate the incredible words still intact.

As for colonists coming here to seek freedom of religion, that's just a fact of history.

It bears mentioning, also, that one of the men whose use of the word "God" that you are objecting to, was the man who laid the entire foundation for freedom of religion - including the right to not HAVE a religion - for the United States. That would be Jefferson, with his Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786). An act which quickly spread to all the other colonies as well - who had, prior to those acts, been supporting state churches with tax funds and requiring religious memberships in order to hold office.

Quite an accomplishment, that - so, if Tom wants to "swear upon the altar of God" that he has "eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man," I'm OK with that...

Brad