The argument against it being that it implies a congregation of church and state, something forbidden by US constitution. The argument for it being that it bears historical significance and removing it would remove a part of history. I personally am against it, especially since it says In god "we" trust. Not everyone in america believes in god. I think that it may have been a good thing back in the day, but it does not apply to our modern society and it is time for us to grow and adapt to a new generation of people using currency.
Good point. We had the subject brought up in class a few years ago. I think Americans are too scared to erase this from the currency because it would be costly to the mints to redesign coins and bills. They also feel that without god in their currency, it will cause the collapse of our society. Which I find funny. Also, Religion is very closely related to our government. They even pray voluntarily before meetings in the Senate or in Congress.
Yes. It would cost money, so maybe right now wouldn't be the best time to do it, but IMO it needs to, and will happen eventually.
Far too impractical and not important enough. That proposal would not deserve to get on the public agenda even if the U.S. were swimming in money. Besides, you do not even know to whom "we" refers.
What would our society be like if everyone who oposed something was told that changing it would be too "impractical"? A county near mine recently spent about 200,000$ to add the phrase "In god we trust" to all of it's seals. Why not do the opposite?
We refers to Americans. How hard can that be to understand. It will eventually get on the public agenda and saying that wont close the debate from the argument at hand. Now, we could probably tell this to a representative in the future when there are less religious people around. Even if there were only about 25% of atheists living in America, it could still be possible to take it off the bill. That would be a big leap.
It does in your opinion, which I do not believe is inherently superior to that of anyone else. I don't think "we" refers to Americans.
I don't really think it would cost much to do, but I don't really care nevertheless. I mean, if given the option I would say yes, but it isn't something important enough to go out of your way to fix.
Just a little fun fact, the amount of christians in America has dropped by over 10% in the last 19 years The total of non-religious people has increased by almost 8% Demographics of the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maybe someday historians will hold up an old dollar bill and say "even the dollar used to refer to religion". This is of course after religion as we know it seizes to exist. I personally don't care if it's on there. I'm an atheist, and I strongly disbelieve in god. If people really have that much of a problem with it, you're probably over obsessive with your religion and probably a freak at that point anyway to complain about something like that. Who really cares. We all know america is a christian country.
No. 1. Ctrl + F the US Constitution here, be sure the search terms are "separation of church and state", there is no result. In fact, the word separation isn't in there a single time. However, the first amendment says the following "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Therefore, your point on the constitution is nullified and in fact, I have showed how religion itself is freely used in the same source you forgot to cite. 2. Removing the text literally would cause too far an effort. Not only would pre existing cash with the text labeled already expose it, but to manufacture enough money to replace the current amount would cause inflation. 3. People didn't believe in God back then, its not a whole new revolution to be atheist. Plus, "we" can refer to more than just what you think. 4. If you really hate it, ignore the text. You're complaining about such a small literally almost pointless and unfixable task. It will not happen "eventually" because you said it will, despite the lack of any reason behind it. Never do I look at my money and say "aw shucks, it says we trust in God, that can't be right." No, I look at my one dollar bill and see how I can use it in someway. 5. I don't think George Washington was a good president. I think he was a terrible human that should've never existed, he actually devastated America's foundation which is why we will fail, and when we do, we will blame him. People agree with me too. Worst part? He's on our money!
"We" could refer to a number of things. It could refer to religious sentiment during the early 1860s. It could refer to the legislators who made "In God We Trust" the United States' national motto in 1956. It could be those legislators' interpretation of the Framers' religious perspectives in the late 1700s. It is open to opinion, really. You're saying that the words "In God We Trust" should not be on U.S. currency because not all Americans believe in God. You could use the same stupid logic to say that the words "E Pluribus Unum" (Latin: out of many, one) should not be on U.S. currency because some Americans are secessionists.
We, by definition, refers to a collection or group of people. If we does not refer to Americans, who does it refer to? Everyone? In the end, it doesn't really matter what exactly, the simple fact remains that "In God we trust" is a religious statement that assumes that a collected group of people all share in the belief of God. It also doesn't really matter what you think it means, or what you want it to mean, because any reasonable person would add 1 and 1 together to make two. In God we trust, printed on American currency. To be fair, however, let's delve further. "In God we trust" is printed on a form of currency, currency that is used. Given the definition and use of the word we, would it not be reasonable to say that "we" could refer to the people who use said currency? Who uses American currency? Well, mostly Americans, but tourists may use them, as well as some foreign countries that accept them. So basically, "In God we trust" insinuates that anyone, American and non American, who uses the dollar bill has a belief in god. Does it necessarrilly? No, but that's what it looks like and people love to judge based on appearances. The truth of the matter is, that many believe America to be a Christian nation, and it's things like the dollar bill and Pledge of Allegiance that reaffirm those beliefs. People honestly try and debate the most nonsensical points when they have nothing else to defend their opinions with.
I'm just going to go a little off topic and narrow that statement. I do not say your wrong, but for the most part, it is a Puritan country. It is because of that heritage that the United States has such a closed mind on the notion of nudity and sex and drinking. Ok, now onto Dow's thing. Quite honestly I believe it would hurt more than it would help. removing God from currency would offend the vast tracks of religious peoples much more than it would for us atheists to keep the words.
No, it's more like putting "We Are White And Latino" on the currency. America is 90% White and Latino, and thus you would only be alienating 10% of our population. When you put "In God We Trust" on our currency, you alienate 15% of our population.
Exactly what I was thinking when I read this It is foolish to argue that the Constitution didn't support the seperation of church and state.
Ah, the typical debate newb. Comes in a striking note with what seems to be amazing evidence for his cause, and then attacks his contenders with irrelevance, and has yet to provide any substantiation, for anything. Like I said, CTRL + F that document. Tell me what results you get. Now most say the 1st amendment ultimately refers to it, but I say otherwise. Things That Are Not In the U.S. Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net