Should the motto "In God We Trust" be removed from U.S. currency?

It is, a great point? That outside of Christian theology, the only possible morality includes pedophilia, racism, and violence?

You see, as an atheist, I believe this is it - this one existence is my only chance to do something reasonably well, in leaving the world better than when I came into it. It's important to me that I realize the futility of selfishness and greed; that, in fact, we are one - and not just "we" human beings, but "we," every sentient thing on this earth, and therefore compassion is the highest ideal a human can achieve.

Pretty tough to be placed with skinheads, pedophiles, violent criminals, and "anti-Americans" simply because I don't subscribe to Christian tenets. I consider that an ignorant position to take.

 

Are you saying the Bible did not influence the writers of the Constitution?

 

I am saying that nowhere in the Constitution are there provisions stemming from the Bible. I am also saying that whatever the faith of the Founding Fathers was, it was very important to them that they accomplished two, mutually related things: they wished for all citizens to enjoy the right to the free practice of their private faith, and they considered the best means to ensure that was that the two spheres - private faith and public governance - remained free and unencumbered from one another.

It seems to me that it doesn't get any plainer than John Adams's view:

Does it?

 

I understand what you are saying now. I do not think there are quotes from the Bible in the Constitution. The framers did post the ten Comandments in buildings and had prayer at government functions.

The Ten Commandments are depicted in three locations on the United States Supreme Court building. There is a big oak door separating the courtroom from the central hallway where the Ten Commandments are depicted alone.

 

I'd refer you again to James Madison's "Detached Memoranda of 1817," that I posted above. I've more to say, but I have a young lad tugging at his pop's arm to get him, and the mutts outside for some waning strips of sunlight. More later.

Cheers, all.

 

Pretty amazing that the reason for adding it has not been brought up.

With the currency now the world reserve, post WWII, as per the Bretton Woods agreement, a deliberate decision was made to add "In God We Trust", in order to add more credibility to a global, paper reserve currency.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/9846

It's like ""Cool and refreshing" or "Tastes great!"

If we remember, Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple, and said render unto Caesar what is Caesar's when asked about tax protesting, because Jews had been trading silver shekels, which the money changers were exchanging for Roman coin of the realm at a profit.

It's quite interesting really. However, "In God We Trust" on money, is just over 50 years old, and in the time of the Messiah, very plain silver without Caesar's likeness was money everyone trusted. That's because like paper money, Caesar started clipping and shaving his coins, because he had to debase the currency to keep the empire rolling...

 

The reason many coins ended up with ridged edges (which is still present on many modern US coins) was to prevent shaving of the precious metal off the edge of the coins.

 

Hey NorthPointe,

I've been gone for the day and, no I promise that I have never, ever given you any rep.

While it seems unbelievable to me, I'll bet that even the most radical members of those groups that I listed probably think that they are living a "moral" life and that their morals are above reproach. If we follow the popular views of society to guide us in our pursuit of living with good morals, then those morals will change as popular opinion dictates.

I guess that what is comfortable for me is that if I follow the teachings of the bible, hopefully my morals won't change based on public opinion.

You stated "I do not see 'god' as necessary to living a moral, compassionate life." What is moral for you or I could be entirely offensive for a PETA activist.

Yes, it is possible to live a moral and compassionate life without God. I did not mean to imply otherwise, but I think that much of the chaos that exists in society today can be attributed to the lack of agreement of what is moral and what is not.

Again, I did not rep you.

 

Really interesting post.

 

OK. I obviously have no idea who left the rep, because it was anonymous.

Not preaching, but to simply disclose some of my beliefs, as much as I am in essence lapsed in them: I've been pretty profoundly influenced by "mahayana" buddhism, Zen, specifically. In a grossly broad overview, an idea that there isn't any reward to be sought in an afterlife, no "myself-other" divinity or paradise to be achieved, and that suffering comes from hanging on - to anything, which is our personal hell, really, and with one chance at existence, here and now is the place to achieve "paradise," satori or kensho, "enlightenment," whatever one wants to call it. Rapaciousness, "immorality" coming not from mankind's essential evil, but from a misapprehension that these things sought have any real substance - much as the concept of "soul," to be made to feel better; a hole to be eternally filled and refilled by clamoring for more.

In such a philosophy, which doesn't come by reading or discussion but by practice - whether Buddha or oneself, sitting oneself down and doing it - coming to a realization that the only truth is the moment and the only freedom is to allow moments to come, one by one. Preferences, aims, effort - all good, but if these become necessary to one's sense of well being, they become a kind of hunger that can't be sated. I do believe this is the source of so much pain in the world.

 

• I sent my soul through invisible
• some letter of that after-life to spell:
• Any by and by my soul returned home
• And answered "I myself am Heaven and hell:"
  
• Heaven but the vision of fulfilled desire
• And hell the shadow from a soul on fire,
• Cast on the darkness into which ourselves,
• So late emerged from, shall so soon expire.

Omar Khayyam

 

Thanks, Gworld, that's nice - spurs me to want to read more. never having read Omar Khayyam. A while back, I came to Heraclitus, a Grecian contemporary to Gautama Buddha, Confucius, Lao-Tsu, with some pretty amazing cross-pollinations of the concept that life is simply change, of "wisdom" as an achieved thing by direct experience and not intellectual discourse, etc. Some from his "Fragments" (Trans. - Brooks Haxton):

18. Of all the words yet spoken,
none comes quite as far as wisdom,
which is the action of the mind,
beyond all things that may be said.

32. The sun is new
again, all day.

35. Many who have learned from Hesiod the countless names
of gods and monsters
never understood
that night and day are one.

36. By cosmic rule,
as day yields night,
so winter summer;
war peace, plenty famine,
All things change.
Fire penetrates the lump
of myrrh, until the joining
bodies die and rise again
in smoke called incense.

41. The river
where you set
your foot just now
is gone -
those waters
giving way to this,
now this.

-and so on. 18, with Bodhidharma's (Founder of Ch'an/Zen) notion:

41, with a well-known zen parable (not the same notion, just interesting with the river device):

Obviously, zen came later than Buddha's teaching, but pretty astounding to me that across the world, at roughly the same time, some of these same notions were being hammered out.

 

Why remove it...this is just another thing for the government to think about rather than focus on bigger problems (war, gas)

sean

 

Dialectic.

You are right that same ideas came to life in different periods and through different cultures. Humans are the same no matter where they live.

 

Keep it.

We need to trust in something other the Change or Hope, for they will be our biggest burdens

 

You can trust in whatever you want, Why do you need it written on money though?

 

Even though I am not from the US, I have an opinion on this.

I am fed up with being 'politically correct' because the minority doesn't like something. The statement should not be removed unless a huge majority says it is right to remove it.

As some others have pointed out, it has been for so long - so why change it now? If it aint broke - don't fix it.

 

That's the point, It hasn't always been there and the phrase was only adopted as the motto of america in 1956. But let's not let facts and reality get in the way of you forming an "opinion", regardless how ill-informed that opinion may be.

 

No it hasn't - it's only been on the currency since 1957

 

Why should anyone care that it is on there? I personally just want it to stay because there is such a big fuss over it by the far left. In reality, about 86% of American's claim to be Christian. So it is probably a very small minority that even care to have it removed.