# Why should "In God We Trust" be on our currency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 2, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633 "2013-04-02T16:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/41 "2013-04-02T17:12:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Having such intolerance as an official motto that is viewed almost every day makes it harder to convince people that it is intolerance in the first place. Would you rather have the actual intolerance go away, or just a symbol of it? I don’t think most people view it as intolerance even if it doesn’t express their own belief. I understand you don’t like it, but is the symbol really the important thing? There’s a whole bunch of symbolism on money, I don’t think it turns us all into warmongering Masons. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/42 "2013-04-02T17:13:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If most people don’t care, then they should have no objection to it’s removal. Most people don’t care, but the people who do care, care a _ **lot** _. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/43 "2013-04-02T17:14:00Z")
> [@XT](#): > > And it’s easy to over react, especially when you have a huge chip on your shoulder about religion and constantly think you are being persecuted by the evil Christians…right? 😛 That is why it’s on the money after all, as a slap at atheists. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/44 "2013-04-02T17:14:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Would you rather have the actual intolerance go away, or just a symbol of it? What part of “The symbols reinforce the actual intolerance” are you failing to understand? ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/45 "2013-04-02T17:15:25Z")
Product idea: Make a little self-inking stamp that says “All others pay cash” in a font size to fit nicely between the IGWT on paper currency and the bottom edge. I’d buy that. Now, coming up with a way to add the same text to a coin is going to be a little more difficult. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/46 "2013-04-02T17:15:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is there any reason why the phrase “In God We Trust” should be kept on our currency? If you would object to it’s removal, please tell me why. If the American people democratically expressed their will to have it removed, then I’d have no objection. On the other hand, if special interest groups used the courts or unelected bureaucrats to remove it against the will of the people then I’d object for the obvious reasons that such a removal would be undemocratic and could be used as a precedent to justify further attacks on democracy. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/47 "2013-04-02T17:15:58Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That is why it’s on the money after all, as a slap at atheists. And here I always thought it was because the majority of Americans are Christian/theists. 😛 Personally, I’ve never fretted about it, despite the fact that I’m an agnostic/atheist. Nor have I ever felt particularly persecuted, despite the fact that my family and most of my neighbors when I grew up were pretty fervent Catholics. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/48 "2013-04-02T17:15:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What part of “The symbols reinforce the actual intolerance” are you failing to understand? I don’t agree that the symbols reinforce the intolerance. The intolerant are grasping at straws when they use it for support. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/49 "2013-04-02T17:17:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If most people don’t care, then they should have no objection to it’s removal. People don’t care because you aren’t trying to remove it. You try and remove it and you’ll have a whole host of folks who do care. Why is it always thus with the “requiring change” of whatever it is you are trying to change? No one mentions needing this thing, you know this thing that I now want changed. Why don’t you either acknowledge you want it changed and then explain why you’d like it changed, or leave it be? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/50 "2013-04-02T17:18:43Z")
> [@XT](#): > > And here I always thought it was because the majority of Americans are Christian. Christians, who despise atheists. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/51 "2013-04-02T17:19:21Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > If the American people democratically expressed their will to have it removed, then I’d have no objection. On the other hand, if special interest groups used the courts or unelected bureaucrats to remove it against the will of the people then I’d object for the obvious reasons that such a removal would be undemocratic and could be used as a precedent to justify further attacks on democracy. Is that how civil rights work now? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/52 "2013-04-02T17:19:38Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Christians, who despise atheists. In YOUR mind. Like Americans are all rabid butchers bent on conquest, this reality exists mainly in your own little universe and has little to do with reality. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/53 "2013-04-02T17:20:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Having such intolerance as an official motto that is viewed almost every day makes it harder to convince people that it is intolerance in the first place. Very well, if you can prove to me that having “In God We Trust” on our money is an actual example of intolerance which has actually caused measurable harm to any person, then I’ll support removing it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/54 "2013-04-02T17:21:44Z")
> [@XT](#): > > In YOUR mind. Like Americans are all rabid butchers bent on conquest, this reality exists mainly in your own little universe and has little to do with reality. Nonsense. All the polls show atheists as being one of the most disliked categories in the country. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/55 "2013-04-02T17:24:42Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Nonsense. All the polls show atheists as being one of the most disliked categories in the country. Well, feel free to provide those cites. I’ve lived in this country over 50 years and can’t say I’ve ever detected this vast dislike or persecution. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/56 "2013-04-02T17:27:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is that how civil rights work now? No, but civil rights are not involved in the question of what the government puts on its money. You have a civil right to speak freely, but you do not have a civil right to silence the government or any part of it. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/57 "2013-04-02T17:27:29Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Christians, who despise atheists. Atheists, who are arrogant. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/58 "2013-04-02T17:34:00Z")
I think the animosity of US Christians toward Muslims is probably an order of magnitude greater than that of Christians toward atheists. A very sizeable segment of the public thinks that the First Amendment does not apply to Muslims but I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t believe that you should be free to be an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/59 "2013-04-02T17:35:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is there any reason why the phrase “In God We Trust” should be kept on our currency? If you would object to it’s removal, please tell me why. Because removing it would violate 31 U.S.C. §§ 5112(d)(1) and 5114(b). If I were a legislator, I would not vote in favor of changing the law, because I see no particular reason to do so. As a national motto, the phrase has “spiritual and psychological value” as well as an “inspirational quality.” It being valuable as is, I see no reason to change it. But since we live in a representative democracy, I’d absolutely agree to a change favored by the majority. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633/60 "2013-04-02T17:35:56Z")
I used to think it was too much trouble to remove it, but ever since they’ve been minting those state quarters and issuing new, anti-counterfeit bills, I’ve dropped that reasoning. There’s no reason god should be mentioned anywhere on our money [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-in-god-we-trust-be-on-our-currency/654633.md?page=4)