In God Most of Us Trust

By Paul VanRaden

2002

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 tyrannical.” Jefferson was a Deist, not a Christian. He believed that the Bible was not the word of God. Jefferson believed that God created the world but then just watched it function. He wrote new rules for a new country because he did not trust God to do it. Thomas Paine, who inspired the United States to form a new country, was also a Deist and trusted no religion, only his own mind.

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 Atheists who believed in no God. 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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