Norway?
IN GOD WE TRUST on US Currency
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DaveC426913
Valued Senior Member
I guess it's also not a coincidence that the suicide-by-firearm leader of the world has "In God We Trust" on its penny.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate
Actually it says ''IN GOD WE TRUST'', not ''In God we trust''.
The first could easily mean ''in god we trust'', which doesn't necessarily mean ''God'' (Supreme Being).
It could be a reference to any of the gods (demi).
jan.
Edont Knoff
Registered Senior Member
The value of currencies depends to trust, but not in god, but among the users of the currency. Since the fall of gold standard, the value of a currency is very much only based on the trust of market participants, and once this trust is lost, the value will plummet.
So, if you want the dollar to be stable, pray that people trust each other, not god
DaveC426913
Valued Senior Member
True. Or it could be a reference to little Bobby God (a name for which he was hounded mercilessly in the playground), from down the lane.
Do you have any reason to suppose there is some ambiguity of that to which it is meant to refer?
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"In God We Trust" is a false statement, so its value is consequentially meaningless.
The "We" refers to the American people, it is an implied inclusive statement. In such a statement there is always the unsaid clause "ALL", meaning [all] the people, and not just "SOME". At the current time approximately 30% of the American people do not follow a religion, or are unbelievers, and the number has shown a steady increase in recent years. Since some clearly do not trust in a god then the original assertion is necessarily false.
What the motto should have said, to be accurate, is "In a god of some type some of us place our trust". But really the architects had the Christian version in mind so what it should say is "The Christians among us insist that EVERYONE trust our definition of a god, and we don't care about the beliefs/non-beliefs of non-Christians".
The "We" refers to the American people, it is an implied inclusive statement. In such a statement there is always the unsaid clause "ALL", meaning [all] the people, and not just "SOME". At the current time approximately 30% of the American people do not follow a religion, or are unbelievers, and the number has shown a steady increase in recent years. Since some clearly do not trust in a god then the original assertion is necessarily false.
What the motto should have said, to be accurate, is "In a god of some type some of us place our trust". But really the architects had the Christian version in mind so what it should say is "The Christians among us insist that EVERYONE trust our definition of a god, and we don't care about the beliefs/non-beliefs of non-Christians".
zgmc
Registered Senior Member
As long as Chuck Norris is in Texas the govt would be pretty stupid to invade.Indeed, the government is going to invade Texas guy.
http://nobeliefs.com/facts.htm#anchor244591
First U.S. money never used the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST"
The original coinage minted by the United States never carried a religious motto. Interestingly, "MIND YOUR BUSINESS" (from Benjamin Franklin) appeared as the first motto (see below). The first American coinage appeared totally secular; as clean from a mention of god as the Constitution.
However, the religious community in America grew. At the time of pre-Civil War days, church membership had risen to 16 percent of the population (1850) and to 23 percent by 1860. From a desire to transform America into a Christian state, several Protestant denominations organized the National Reform Association which aimed to amend the Constitution to "declare the nation's allegiance to Jesus Christ." and to put a "legal basis" of the land on "Christian laws."
Although the National Reform Association failed in its attempt to amend the Constitution, it continued its efforts into the twentieth century. The National Reform Association attracted many powerful men in its ranks, including governors, Supreme Court Justices, and James Pollock who became the Director of the U.S. Mint.
Not until 1865 did the the religious motto appear on the first public issue coin (a bronze two-cent piece). Later in 1865, an Act to authorize the Coinage of Three-cent pieces, containing the motto, got passed. The Act of 1865 gave the authority to place "IN GOD WE TRUST" on coins.
In 1866 politicians put the motto on $5, $10, and $20 gold pieces, silver quarters, halves, dollars, and on the shield nickel, new in that year. They dropped it from the nickels, from the 1883 Liberty Head, until sculptor Felix Schlag placed it on the Jefferson nickel of 1938.
In 1908 Congress ignored the concept of state/church separation and considered a bill to make the use of the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" a requirement of law.
The consideration served, of course, as more of a political polemic than a statement of fact. Congress had not specifically approved the motto until after the Civil war and only some coins had the motto imprinted on them. But on March 8, 1908, they passed the bill and made it a law.
On March 22, 1956, during the Christian anti-communist fever of McCarthyism, Congress passed a bill establishing "IN GOD WE TRUST" as a national motto.
Today, the religious motto defaces all of our paper and coinage, none of which appeared on our Founding Father's currency. Considering that Christians supposedly avoid the love of money, the "root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10 ), here we have a perfect example for justifying not only love for money but to place trust in a superstitious entity, the root of maleficence, if ever there existed
First U.S. money never used the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST"
The original coinage minted by the United States never carried a religious motto. Interestingly, "MIND YOUR BUSINESS" (from Benjamin Franklin) appeared as the first motto (see below). The first American coinage appeared totally secular; as clean from a mention of god as the Constitution.
However, the religious community in America grew. At the time of pre-Civil War days, church membership had risen to 16 percent of the population (1850) and to 23 percent by 1860. From a desire to transform America into a Christian state, several Protestant denominations organized the National Reform Association which aimed to amend the Constitution to "declare the nation's allegiance to Jesus Christ." and to put a "legal basis" of the land on "Christian laws."
Although the National Reform Association failed in its attempt to amend the Constitution, it continued its efforts into the twentieth century. The National Reform Association attracted many powerful men in its ranks, including governors, Supreme Court Justices, and James Pollock who became the Director of the U.S. Mint.
Not until 1865 did the the religious motto appear on the first public issue coin (a bronze two-cent piece). Later in 1865, an Act to authorize the Coinage of Three-cent pieces, containing the motto, got passed. The Act of 1865 gave the authority to place "IN GOD WE TRUST" on coins.
In 1866 politicians put the motto on $5, $10, and $20 gold pieces, silver quarters, halves, dollars, and on the shield nickel, new in that year. They dropped it from the nickels, from the 1883 Liberty Head, until sculptor Felix Schlag placed it on the Jefferson nickel of 1938.
In 1908 Congress ignored the concept of state/church separation and considered a bill to make the use of the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" a requirement of law.
The consideration served, of course, as more of a political polemic than a statement of fact. Congress had not specifically approved the motto until after the Civil war and only some coins had the motto imprinted on them. But on March 8, 1908, they passed the bill and made it a law.
On March 22, 1956, during the Christian anti-communist fever of McCarthyism, Congress passed a bill establishing "IN GOD WE TRUST" as a national motto.
Today, the religious motto defaces all of our paper and coinage, none of which appeared on our Founding Father's currency. Considering that Christians supposedly avoid the love of money, the "root of all evil" (1 Tim. 6:10 ), here we have a perfect example for justifying not only love for money but to place trust in a superstitious entity, the root of maleficence, if ever there existed
Yazata
Valued Senior Member
In the United States the founding idea (stated very clearly in the Declaration of Independence) was that the rights of individuals aren't granted to them by their Royal Soverign (as was argued in 18th century Europe) or by an omnipotent ruling Party (as today's China insists). The idea was that the inalienable rights of man come from a higher source (call it 'God' if you like) that outranks any human ruler.
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A fair amount, considering that some form of monotheism accounts for well over three-quarters of the US population. Add to that all the countries that use the US dollar as a reserve currency. Now, that is immaterial to the usage of the motto on currency.
It's a relic of the Cold War, partly.
Probably will happen in our lifetimes. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Does it really matter? I mean really, why give a damn that it's there?
7 in 10 identify as being Christians, but that is in decline...
http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/
There doesn't seem to be a HUGE outcry to remove it. Why change anything if there isn't a HUGE problem.
I doubt it's on a priority list for political activists by large.