'One Nation Under God' Coin Necklace

"If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, we will be a nation gone under." We love these words that Ronald Reagan spoke at a prayer breakfast in Dallas, Texas in 1984. Well over 30 years later, we see even more clearly how the lack of God in our systems has been such a detriment, so his beliefs and sentiments touch our hearts more than ever. (Watch, read, or listen to the entire speech here, or read some of our favorite excerpts below.)

We've hand stamped these words into a 3/4" disc, and finished it by hand, right here in the USA.

• Made with solid sterling silver, 14k gold-filled and solid copper metals.
• Silver and copper impressions are blackened; gold and rose gold are not.
• Our copper begins in polished, raw form, and will naturally patina over time into a beautiful weathered look. If that's not your style, a quick dip in our jewelry cleaner will make it like new! Copper may slightly (and temporarily) discolor skin, but causes no harm.

"I believe that faith and religion play a critical role in the political life of our nation and always has.

And that the church, and by that I mean all churches, all denominations, have had a strong influence on the state and this has worked to our benefit as a nation.

Those who created our country, the founding fathers, and mothers, understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact, as a form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order is religion.

The Mayflower Compact began with the words ''In the name of God amen.'' The Declaration of Independence appeals to nature's god and the Creator and the Supreme Judge of the World. Congress was given a chaplain and the oaths of office are oaths before God. James Madison, in the Federalist Papers, admitted that in the creation of our Republic he perceived the hand of the Almighty. John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, warned that we must never forget the God from whom our blessings flow. George Washington referred to religion's profound and unsurpassed place in the heart of our nation quite directly in his Farewell Address in 1796.

I believe that George Washington knew the city of man cannot survive without the city of God, that the visible city will perish without the invisible city. Religion played not only a strong role in our national life, it played a positive role.

The Abolitionist movement was, at heart, a moral and religious movement. So was the modern civil rights struggle.

And throughout this time the state was tolerant of religious belief, expression and practice. Society, too, was tolerant. Secularization Movement

But in the 1960's this began to change. We began to make great steps toward secularizing our nation and removing religion from its honored place. In 1962, the Supreme Court, in the New York prayer case, banned the compulsory saying of prayers. In 1963, the Court banned the reading of the Bible in our public schools.

From that point on, the courts pushed the meaning of the ruling ever outward so that now our children are not allowed voluntary prayer. We even had to pass a law, we passed a special law in the Congress just a few weeks ago to allow student prayer groups the same access to school rooms after classes that a young Marxist society, for example, would already enjoy with no opposition.

The 1962 decision opened the way to a flood of similar suits. Once religion had been made vulnerable, a series of assaults were made in one court after another on one issue after another. Cases were started to argue against tax exempt status for churches. Suits were brought to abolish the words ''under God'' from the Pledge of Allegiance and to remove ''In God We Trust'' from public documents and from our currency.

Today there are those who are fighting to make sure voluntary prayer is not returned to the classrooms. And the frustrating thing for the great majority of Americans who support and understand the special importance of religion in the national life, the frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance, freedom and openmindedness.

Question: Isn't the real truth that they are intolerant of religion?

They refuse to tolerate its importance in our lives. School Prayer and Tolerance

If all the children of our country studied together all of the many religions in our country, wouldn't they learn greater tolerance of each other's beliefs?

If children prayed together, would they not understand what they have in common and would this not indeed bring them closer and is this not to be desired?

So I submit to you that those who claim to be fighting for tolerance on this issue may not be tolerant at all.

... If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."

-Excerpts from Ronald Reagan's 1994 prayer breakfast speech.