The
Right To Have No God
by
Paul VanRaden
“Do
you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore
whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
James, chapter 4 verse
4, Holy Bible
Private
letters:
A Christian response, by Walter VanRaden
Popular
songs:
Religious
freedom:
In
America, Atheists are forced to accept the words “IN GOD WE TRUST”. The law that forces
everyone to accept those words is also written on every dollar “THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL
DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE”. If the United
States government values religious freedom, it should remove the words “IN GOD WE TRUST” from the money that it
forces Atheists to accept and to carry in their pockets every day.
The
direct advertisement for religion on every dollar and coin in USA is banned by
the first amendment of its Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion...” Forcing Atheists to carry the words “IN GOD WE TRUST” is wrong both legally
and morally. As Thomas Jefferson said in 1786, “To compel a man to furnish
contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is
sinful and tyrranical.”
If
Fidel Castro printed “THERE IS NO GOD” on Cuban money, the rest of the world would
loudly protest this human rights abuse, even if 51% of Cubans were actually
Atheists. The majority can’t force their beliefs on the rest of us.
Most
Americans believe in God and many of us also believe in religious freedom. If
slogans are printed on the money, they should be worded more carefully. A
change to “IN
GOD MOST OF US TRUST” would make clear that Americans are not forced to believe.
P.S. Coins should be printed with the numbers
1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 on the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half-dollar
instead of only the English words ONE CENT, FIVE CENTS, ONE DIME, etc., to make
the coin values more obvious to non-English speakers and to small children.
Arabic numbers are understood by everyone, even Americans, and should be
printed on US coins as they are on nearly all other coins on earth.
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