God off Money
According to the U.S. Department of treasury`s website "The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. In the first of many letters the Treasurer recieved during that time, Rev. M. R. Watkinson suggested mentioning God on U.S. coins and stated that "This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters." So by the admission of the U.S. Treasury, the original purpose and intent of mentioning God on U.S. coins was to promote and endorse religion.
The site goes on to say that in 1861, the Secretary of the Treasury then wrote to the Director of the Mint in Philadelphia saying "No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins". The Congress passed the Act of April 22, 1864. This legislation changed the composition of the one-cent coin and authorized the minting of the two-cent coin. 'IN GOD WE TRUST' first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin. This is further proof that it was an act of the U.S. government to enshrine religion on government property that was expected to pass through the hands of every American citizen.
on July 30, 1956, the President approved a Joint Resolution of the 84th Congress, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate.
It takes very little time or effort to use a pen and scribble out the word "God" from your paper currency. If you do this on a daily or even weekly basis, it sends a clear message about the separation of church and state to all those who subsequently receive the same bills. Personally, I spend much too much time in the fast food restaurant drive-thru lines but I make good use of that time because I have money in my hand and I always have a pen in the car. In the privacy of your vehicle, you don't have to explain to anyone why you are scribbling on dollar bills. If you are really ambitios about this method you could withdraw $100 in ones from your account, clean it and redeposit.
In November, 2005 Mike Newdow filed a federal lawsuit to remove “In God We Trust” from U.S. coins and dollar bills, claiming that the motto is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. In dissmissing the case, U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. said the minted words amounted to a secular national slogan that did not trample on Michael Newdow’s avowed religious views [...] citing a 9th Circuit decision from 1970 that concluded the four words were a national motto that had “nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion.” ... “‘Wrongly decided’ or not, this court must and does ... follow 9th Circuit precedent,” Damrell said. The outcome should have been expected in light of the dissmissal of Newdow's pledge suit. Had it not been for the 9th Circuit precedent, the case would likely have been dissmissed on standing anyway. The proper avenue of redress now is with our representatives in Washington. We need new legislation that says the current motto was unconstitutionally adopted and must be changed.
Let's keep pressure on this issue. Sign the petition to remove this unconstitutional motto. Take action to remove this offensive and inaccurate statement from our currency at GodOffMoney.com.
On an interesting aside, the U.S. Treasury website also mentions that "The use of IN GOD WE TRUST has not been uninterrupted. The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883, and did not reappear until production of the Jefferson nickel began in 1938. Later, the motto was found missing from the new design of the double-eagle gold coin and the eagle gold coin shortly after they appeared in 1907". They do not go into how or why these things occurred.