especially when a lot of our money is used to buy drugs, weapons, prostitutes, etc
2006-12-20 10:10:36 · 24 answers · asked by Wl 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
but doesnt america have something about the serperation of church and state
2006-12-20 10:20:53 · update #1
I cross that off all my $100, 50, and 20s.
2006-12-20 10:12:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
There is a VERY interesting article about the history of the motto on the Departmentof the Treasury website:
http://www.treasury.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/in-god-we-trust.shtml
some interesting things to note:
1. the mention of "the goddess of liberty"
2. the idea expressed here, "This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed"; i.e. having a mention of "God" on our money will work as a magic charm against harm coming to the country (*gasp*)
3. It's use of "In God We Trust" has not been consistant
But, read the article, everyone.
2006-12-20 19:00:27 · answer #2 · answered by Praise Singer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's just another way for the religious to force their way into everyone's lives.
"The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins.
IN GOD WE TRUST first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin from an act passed on April 22, 1864.
A law passed by the 84th Congress on July 30, 1956, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate."
As soon as people forget that regular people put it there, all the bible thumpers will proudly declare that it was ALWAYS that way, because God made it so!
2006-12-20 18:19:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
First put on the 1862 two cent piece as a propaganda ploy to show that the god creature was on the side of the North during the Civil War. Later added to paper money for a similar reason during the early Cold War because a bunch of idiot legislators decided to expand the abuse of church/state separation.
2006-12-20 19:20:22 · answer #4 · answered by iknowtruthismine 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because In God we trust.
Our founding father's recognized God's importance in our every day life and incorporated Him into our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
However, I don't think that the money said "In God we Trust" until the mid-20th century.
The First Amendment states that the government cannot interfere with religion. It does not state that religion cannot enter the government. You won't be able to find the words Separation of Church and State anywhere in our Constitution. Those words were taken out of context from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to a small church assuring that church that the government wasn't going to interfere with their worship.
Also, our founding fathers weren't atheists. Thomas Jefferson taught Sunday School every week on the Senate floor. What self-respecting atheist would do that?
2006-12-20 18:16:13 · answer #5 · answered by Cylon Betty 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
It was part of the Red scare in the 1950s. That's also why we have under god in the pledge of allegiance. This was somehow to prove to the world we were a religious nation not like the USSR.
The nation was not founded on Christian ideals and its a very common fallacy. The nation in the Treaty of Tripoli stated to the world that it was not a Christian Nation. The founding fathers weren't Christian but deist because they didn't believe that Christianity was true but believed in a high power. In the Declaration of Independence it never mentioned god but stated creator which was common in enlightenment ideals. The principles of the nation's independence weren't Christian but enlightenment ideas.
2006-12-20 18:22:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because there were enough believers who cared less about America than about their little sects. It's just like the Shiite/Sunni thing going on in Iraq right now.
Isn't it interesting that the Republicans' great icon Abe Lincoln was the one who said "A house divided cannot stand"? The current Republicans seem to have long ago forgotten that fact, or perhaps they never really cared about America at all.
2006-12-20 18:13:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
"In God We Trust" was first added to US currency during the Civil War. There were periods where it was removed or added back.
It was added to the dollar bill during the fifties during the Cold War as a way of supposedly distinquishing the US from communism.
Attempts to eliminate the phrase today by Michael Newdow has been met with heavy resistence... even though it is blatantly anti-constiutional.
Below is a link to a lecture that Dr. Newdow gave on it.
2006-12-20 18:15:02 · answer #8 · answered by imrational 5 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Because the majority of Americans trust in God. Go figure huh?
2006-12-20 18:19:47 · answer #9 · answered by Presagio 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was put on there in an entirely different age. I guess it was saying "We like money, but we need to TRUST God".
In today's world people don't want to hear about God. They are even intolerant of others who mention Him.
2006-12-20 18:38:19 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was added in the 1950s I think... during the McCarthy era.
You know... the British money has a picture of Charles Dawin.
2006-12-20 18:14:23 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋