Although a lot of people like to call me an Atheist, I would class myself as Agnostic as if someone could give me irrefutable proof that God existed, I would be a believer, Atheist people deny the existence of God regarded of what evidence is put in front of them. Anyway, I digress… I read in my Facebook feed today that there is another challenge to “In God We Trust” being printed on US paper currency.
In my view, any reference to religion should not be part of any government system, product or service as not everyone shares the same belief, it either has to acknowledge all religions or no religion at all. We live in a multicultural society where one religion or belief should not be given preference over another and by printing “In God We Trust” on federal currency that effectively endorses Christianity over other religions.
For example, if paper currency were to say “In Allah We Trust”, there would be outrage from the Christian right, some Republicans would spontaneously combust. So why is it acceptable to have “In God We Trust” on paper money? The same goes for the pledge of allegiance, having to reference “Under God” is an insult to some people who believe in another deity or have no belief in a higher power at all.
All that said, at this point, the pure cost of removing “In God We Trust” from physical currency would be astronomical. And the fact that paper money is becoming less and less circulated with most people using a debit or credit card for every day use. It wouldn’t be a smart decision. So although I agree with the sentiment of the law suit, from a practical standpoint its totally defies logic. I have a bank note in my hand maybe 2 or 3 times a year, usually as gifts for birthdays and holidays. The idea of carrying cash is alien to me today, I’ve had a debit card for more than 15 years now, no need for me to carry bank notes.
I would be interested to know the actual stats on bank note usage for everyday use, the vast majority of payments I witness in-store are people using a debit card or credit card, swipe and enter pin or sign is much easier than counting cash and having the inevitable pocket full of loose change.