God in Your Pocket
What if the U.S. Government forced you to carry around a religious text in your pocket in order to make simple, everyday purchases? Would you stand for that? Would you just let them get away with it? Before you answer, take a look at the often-overlooked profession of faith on every single piece of U.S. currency in your wallet, and ask yourself why you haven’t done anything about one of the most blatant infractions of the establishment clause in American history.
I won’t tolerate it anymore. I’m certainly not the first person to write about this topic, and I hope I won’t be the last, but I had to write a post about this simple and wide-reaching way to evangelize atheism. Take a pen (I use a Sharpie) and leave it on your dresser or night stand. At the end of each day, when you remove your money from your pocket, take 10 seconds to make it constitutional. I like to think of it as “money laundering.”
Some people like to cross out the entire phrase. I just cross out the word god. Most people who will see the bill don’t know what’s there well enough to get the point if I cross the whole thing out. If you want, you can substitute something of your own, like “Ourselves” or “Timmy,” but I like the simplicity of just a black line. If you are offended by this phrase’s presence on our money, and you’re not doing this, you’re just lazy.
“But wait,” you say “Isn’t that illegal?” Well… yes. However, the good folks over at godoffmoney.com received a letter from the Treasury Department telling them that they had to stop selling stamps, but that the law would otherwise go unenforced.
For those of you who think that the phrase has been on U.S. currency since the founding of the nation, here’s the U.S. Treasury Department’s complete history of how these four words crept onto our money. For a good discussion of the matter from the atheist perspective, including the 1978 travesty of Madalyn Murray O’Hare v. W. Michael Blumenthal, look at the American Atheists Flash Line page on the subject.
Be informed. Be enraged. Buy a marker.
~I AM~
June 28th, 2005 at at 11:07 pm
I am sooo doing this!
I don’t see how the courts could have said it had a “secular purpose” when it obviously did not. Did the people who brought it to court not bring that up or what? I’m sure they did and the courts just… bah.
June 28th, 2005 at at 11:12 pm
This is that slippery slope idea happening. Usually it’s the christians arguing this theory about a lack of god belief and the decline of morality. But I know I’ve read some articles and editorials about how some christians think that since we have this goddamn slogan on our money (approvel from founders and such) it should be everywhere else (read: courtrooms). We need to nip this in the bud.
June 28th, 2005 at at 11:34 pm
I’m glad you made this post, I Am. If we get enough people doing this, it would be a nice subtle way to get the word out. Count me in!
June 28th, 2005 at at 11:42 pm
This has bothered me for awhile. I’m getting a sharpie next time I’m out.
Maybe I’ll get an “E pluribus unum” stamp. That’s such a better motto.
June 29th, 2005 at at 12:07 am
“In God We Trust”
This is a dominant phrase in American society. “In God We Trust” seems like it’s everywhere and it’s unconstitutional for it to be used by the government.
June 29th, 2005 at at 12:38 am
What a great idea — while I am certainly no advocate of breaking the law, this subtle bit of Constitutional correctness clearly falls within the bounds of “non-violent protest.” I’m getting a marker!
June 29th, 2005 at at 12:39 am
Unfortunately we won’t get enough people doing this. We are the minority here. And most want that to stay. But I have commented on this very thing a time or two myself, and it’s pretty much why I live on my debit card over cash.
June 29th, 2005 at at 1:07 am
Who f**king cares what’s on the money as long as you can spend it. Should fundamentalists X out the eye and pyramid as a masonic symbol? Should women be offended by the notes because they all have pictures of men?
This is as much a nonissue as flag burning. Let’s not waste our energy on it when there is so much else to be done. Tax the churches, eliminate religious discrimination, restore funding for scientific research — and then you can wring your hands over having to touch that god-trusting money.
June 29th, 2005 at at 1:28 am
No, women shouldn’t care because men being the only people on the notes isn’t unconstitutional.
(I didn’t know what exactly freemasonry is so I looked it up on Wikipedia… is it considered a religion or what? Either way, these apparently masonic symbols seem like they are there for purely “secular purposes.” Please correct me if I’m wrong.)
However, I believe that having “In God We Trust” on money and banning the desecration of the flag to be unconstitutional and I think we should care. Of course, there might be more important things to care about but I think we should also care about the little things.
June 29th, 2005 at at 9:54 am
I’m really quite mixed about defacing the words “In God We Trust” on currency. My fear is that such actions do nothing but fuel the persecution mentality of modern day Christians. Persecution, for the Christian, is what consider to be the strongest pieces of evidence for the truthfulness of their faith. I agree with Charles Watkins, tax the churches, fight for increased scientific funding and education take its course.
Besides, with me, out of convenience I hardly ever use paper currency anymore. No where on my debit card does it mention God at all.
June 29th, 2005 at at 11:15 am
Jon Stewart had some great comments on Christian “persecution.”
“Imagine a world in which Christians would be free to express their beliefs, perhaps by wearing a symbol of their faith around their necks. Imagine a day when we could have an openly Christian president. Or 43 of them, consecutively.”
What Charles fails to see is that the presence of the words “In God We Trust” on the currency is government establishment of religion. This is religious discrimination (one of his big issues). As boywonder points out, this makes it easier for the Christian majority to defend more outrageous actions. A victory on this small point would be very helpful for us in achieving the larger goals. Furthermore, some things are worth fighting for just because they’re right.
And yes, the all-seeing eye should be removed as well. As for women being offended, they got Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea.
June 29th, 2005 at at 11:47 am
Done! & I’ll keep it up! — I don’t consider this to be “defacing” anything, the government “defaced” my currency when they put this on it — and I really don’t care if it “upsets” the religious right. Nothing I do will every change them, it’s the silent non-religious that I’m after.
Now if we could rid of all the “God Bless America” nonsense, but at least that usually isn’t Government sanctioned.
By the way, I’ve always hated the NY Yankees, but they’ve given me another reason for that now. They are still playing “God Bless America” instead of “Take me out to the Ballgame” during the 7th Inning Stretch, and they even ask everybody to stand for it.
June 29th, 2005 at at 1:29 pm
What fun!
June 29th, 2005 at at 1:34 pm
What about my loose change?
June 29th, 2005 at at 2:10 pm
x-acto blades!
June 29th, 2005 at at 2:16 pm
Dremel?
June 29th, 2005 at at 9:15 pm
I’ve been doing this for awhile and I find that the biggest drawback is that I forget about it. However, for those who are going out to get a marker, might I suggest going into Staples and picking up a Sharpie that can attach to your keyring for easy access. (They sell them at Staples here, usually up on the check-out counter, but they are probably in other locations as well)
June 29th, 2005 at at 9:53 pm
My favorite method is to cross out GOD and replace with REALITY. The affirmative statement that results feels just about right.
June 29th, 2005 at at 10:24 pm
I agree with that last statement.
Anyway, check out the Canadian 5 dollar bill. You guys have a lot of old guys on your money. Sacajawea is a token, literally and figuratively. Everyone hates the American money with women on it, and when Susan B came out, I remember that misogyny was pretty damned popular. A lot of pissing and moaning about a suffragette on a dollar.
Anyway, the Canadian 5 dollar bill has kids on it. Kids playing hockey in the street. On the side is a little verse from “The Hockey Sweater,” which asserts that hockey is much better than church.
I’d like to see Americans do something like that without some fundamentalist heads exploding in showers of self-righteous indignation.
June 30th, 2005 at at 4:07 am
There was a program on NPR where they interviewed a guy who had studied the origins of the Pledge of Allegiance. The history of the pledge is very interesting.
It was established in 1892 by two guys who wanted something to help celebrate the 400 year aniveristy of Columbus finding the America’s
It was to be read by school children in honor of the celebration, and was meant to be a one time deal.
It originally read “I pledge allegiance, to my flag, and to the republic, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”
Some of the meaning behind it was due to a great influx of non-traditional immigrants, including Eastern and Suthern Europeans and Catholics. The writer had a great fear of these “new” people and wanted to make sure they swore allegiance to our cournty and not their original country. The words “my flag” were changed to “to the flag of the United States of America” because he was afraid they could secretly be pledging to their country of origin.
Also, instead of putting your hand over your heart, children would salute until the words “my flag” and then they would put their hand out front and up right, very similar to the Nazi expression. They changed that after the rise of Fascism, and also added “Under God” in order to distinguish the God-Fearing Americans from their evil Atheist Communist counter-parts.
I’m glad there is a rich, unifying tradition behind the pledge
June 30th, 2005 at at 3:30 pm
Man I used to do this all the time. And here i thought I was so clever and original! I have been pretty lax on it lately but only because I rarely have any cash on me. Visa is much easier.
By the way, check out http://kipesquire.powerblogs.com/posts/1120144276.shtml
It discusses mcu the same thing, only in the context of Crazy Ex-Judge Roy Moore.
June 30th, 2005 at at 3:31 pm
oops, that should be “much” not “mcu”
July 2nd, 2005 at at 2:06 am
I’ve been doing this for about 4 months now very “religiously”. I’ve bought a rubber stamp (only about 4 dollars) that says “Keep Church and State Separate”. I then go to my local bank and take out large quantities of 1 dollar bills at a time, stamp them all, and then use them throughout the week. I like using 1s because obviously I can get 20 stamped 1s out for the same cost as a single stamped $20 bill. I also stamp my fiancee’s money. It’s not going to convince any fundamentalist christians that it is wrong of course, but maybe an atheist who hasn’t thought of it will pick up the bill and begin stamping as well, thereby effectively multiplying my efforts. And it will bring attention to the issue.
July 6th, 2005 at at 6:59 pm
In [Redacted] We Trust
The Evangelical Atheist has a suggestion for us:
What if the U.S. Government forced you to carry around a religious text in your pocket in order to make simple, everyday purchases? Would you stand for that? Would you just let them get away with it?…
July 7th, 2005 at at 3:33 am
[…]
Religion, Economy — Jim @ 6:59 pm
The Evangelical Atheist has a suggestion for us: What if the U.S. Government forc […]
December 25th, 2006 at at 4:09 pm
[…] On a somewhat related note, here’s one self-help approach if you object to “In God We Trust” on currency. […]