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“In God
We Trust” May be Starting to Vanish from our Money
A
news article was recently posted on the Internet which indicates
that the United States Treasury department will begin minting
a new series of gold-colored one dollar coins in February of 2007.
The first coin minted will have a portrait of George Washington,
with the inscription “1st President 1789-1797.” The
back side of the coin will show the Statue of Liberty with the
large words “United States of America” and the inscription
“$1.” Every three months, a new coin will be minted,
each with the next president. All of this sounds great. However,
if you want to read the words, “In God We Trust,” on
this new coin, you may have to pull out your magnifying glass.
The national motto, along with the year of minting, and the words
“E Pluribus Unum” will literally be inscribed on the
thin edge of the coin. Obviously, it will be very small, and for
many, very difficult to read.
What
is the reason for this design change? The official reason from
the US Mint is to make more room for larger portraits of each
President and the Statue of Liberty. However, in light of the
fact that atheist Michael Newdow has pledged to sue the government
to remove the words, it seems strange and timely that the national
motto is getting much smaller and harder to find on some newer
coin designs. Perhaps the whole reason for the “remodeling”
of US coin inscriptions truly has to do with some artistic or
aesthetic feel on the part of decision makers, but I am concerned
that this is just one more step toward ridding America of its
current national motto. Two
weeks ago I saw a news interview regarding a Ten Commandments
monument that was placed on the grounds outside a small county
courthouse. The public officials of that county seat town had
received a great deal of support from local residents and no opposition.
However, an ACLU representative came to the town and began advertising
for someone to file suit against the display. No one is upset
about it, or suing, so the ACLU is literally advertising for someone
to sue! The news interviewer questioned both the ACLU representative,
and a lawyer for the local government who supported the display.
As the questioning bounced back and forth between the two opposing
parties, it became evident to me that the ACLU representative
was prepared to make a strong case for “separation of church
and state,” but the local lawyer was stammering and stuttering,
saying something like, “well, our local people like it, and
we don’t see anything wrong with it!” What is sad about
this is that most local Americans do appreciate such displays
as the Ten Commandments, “In God We Trust,” nativity
scenes, public cross displays, and other such symbols. Certainly
there is nothing wrong with such displays. However, like the local
lawyer during this interview, most of us are typically scratching
our heads and saying, “Well, I really do believe that it’s
good to have such displays, but I don’t know how to answer
those who tell us we shouldn’t do it… because, I guess
we ought to have separation of church from state.” My answer
to this is… “Who says we have to have separation of
church and state?”
Forgive
me for continuing to play my broken record, but the need is desperate,
and the tune is a long way from catching on in the minds of most
Americans. The idea that a free and democratic America requires
that there be no mention of God or no public Christian expressions
or symbolism in America is pure poppycock! When we cave in to
pressure from “politically correct” or “secular
progressive” groups to pull prayer out of schools, to pull
God out of public gatherings, to pull Christian symbols from the
walls and grounds of public property, we are caving in the demands
of atheists, leaders for homosexual agendas, and other ultra-liberal,
and in many cases, ungodly voices, which are all minority opinions
in our land. It is not unconstitutional to reflect Christianity
in our public culture! It never has been! Is it true that some
are offended because they see crosses on the highways, or “In
God We Trust” on coins? Yes! However, some are offended because
we don’t legalize drugs, or allow for sexually explicit photographs
on public billboards. Just because someone is offended by something
doesn’t mean it is taking away from democracy or liberty
in America. We are guaranteed freedom “of religion”
in America, granting the right of Americans to express the God
of their land and culture in our great country, not freedom “from
religion” which strips God and Christian symbols away from
any type of public expression.
If
we as local traditional Christian citizens don’t start getting
mad, vocal, and yes, even outraged over what is being expressed
by some ungodly minority opinions, we are going to lose our right
to public expression of religion in America. We are slowly losing
it now! I urge you, please get vocal and stand up and fight for
“In God We Trust” so that we don’t lose our right
to publicly express that trust. “…Contend for the faith
which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3)
James Sanders
Pastor,
sandersjc@yahoo.com
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