In God we Trust

In God we Trust must be removed from American currency.

The Atheist Michael Newdow has repeatedly tried to achieve this through legal action.

Newdow states that the God references endorse religion and contradicts the First Amendment which forbids the law to have an established Church or official state Church. He argues that it is unconstitutional.

It is argued against him that the First Amendment does not forbid all religious and spiritual expression but only forbids the creation of a state religion.

It is also argued that In God we trust is not a prayer and is only a tradition.

His efforts to date have been unsuccessful.

In God we Trust has appeared on US Coins since 1865.

In God we Trust does not need to be on the coins.

It does not reflect the belief of most Americans. It is easily forgotten that many Christians for example do not trust God.

It is not a neutral statement. It says America trusts God and believes in God. This discriminates against all who do not believe in God and those who do but who think God is amoral and thus cannot be trusted. It discriminates against those who do not see God as an entity to be trusted but as an impersonal life-force. Gnostics believe God is the devil. Trust implies religious faith. The statement is not promoting any specific religion but it is promoting God religion in general. If the statement is as neutral as some would have you believe then surely its okay then to have In Jesus we Trust or In Buddha we Trust?

In God we Trust implies that religions that reveal God are true in so far as they do so. The statement may not imply that there should be a state Church but it implies that only God religions deserve the honour of being promoted on the coins. It is still religious evangelism albeit of a vague type. We don't know if this God we trust is the Abba daddy of Jesus or something colder and remote like the Muslim God.

In God we Trust is a statement or a prayer. Which is it? Is it both? Those who say it is not a prayer are unable to provide proof. It could be a prayer. Nobody can deny that it is a potential prayer if not an actual one. But what proves it is a prayer, is the Christian teaching that faith and trust in themselves are prayers - they are opening the heart to God. Prayer is opening the heart to God. Even when you ask for something you are doing that. In God we Trust is unconstitutional and violates the constitution's statement that it enforces the right of human dignity. Secularism alone does that properly.

The statement that the USA is one nation under God has been used against atheists. The likes of George Bush Sen. said atheists cannot be considered to be real American citizens.

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States

Is freedom of religion as guaranteed in the First Amendment only for a Church or organised system of worship as opposed to freedom for people as religious individuals? In other words, Americans possess no right to enforce religious rules outside their place of worship. You can bar a gay couple from your temple but not your supermarket. The principle should be universal and anybody who opposes it is a a bigot.