America's God?

At the Sunday Confirmation class we were studying the proper use of God's name. The question came up, whether using the Bible to swear in public officials was an acceptable use of God's name. That led to a question about using the Koran for a Muslim public official like Keith Ellison. This confused most of the 7th and 8th graders, and one girl remarked that she wasn't sure it should be okay since it wasn't a promise based on "America's God".

I wasn't teaching the lesson, so I didn't comment much. Still, it might be worth mentioning that the God of all history and creation is larger than the history and values of the United States, and recognizes the yearnings for truth, love and justice expressed through a variety of faiths, ethnic groups and nations. This is one of the reasons our own nation was founded upon religious tolerance and diversity, rather than establishment of a State-supported religion; the Founders intuitively and reasonably saw that no nation possesses God; rather God "lets the nations know that they are only human" (Psalm 9:20).