From Deseret News archives:

Motto inspires and irritates

In God We Trust

Published: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007 12:33 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
Among all the other busyness on the one dollar bill — the serial numbers and seals, the ruffled outfit of George Washington, the elaborate crosshatching and filigree designed to foil counterfeiters — are four small words. In God We Trust.

The phrase first appeared on America's paper money on Oct. 1, 1957, one year after becoming the country's official motto. Now, a half century later, the motto is inspiring increased fervor and controversy, another skirmish in the battle over how America defines itself.

"The whole In God We Trust thing is much more layered than it first looks," says Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center in Virginia.

On one side are those who argue that, especially as America becomes increasingly diverse, people of all faiths and no faith should be free from any official endorsement of religion.

On the other side are those who argue that the nation is at risk of being redefined as godless. For these people, Haynes says, there is a "new frontier" of efforts to make the national motto more prominent.

Story continues below
In Indiana, for example, a new license plate bearing the motto and an American flag has already been selected by over 1.3 million motorists since its debut earlier this year, according to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed a lawsuit challenging the law that lets drivers buy the plates without having to fork over extra money for what the ACLU argues is a specialty plate (The state argues that it's a standard plate.) The ACLU also complains that the extra money to print the In God We Trust plates (about 50 cents more per plate — over $650,000 so far) has come out of the Indiana Highway Fund — state money for what the ACLU believes is a religious message.

It's no coincidence that new venues for the motto are popping up at a time of anxiety in America, Haynes says, because national anxiety has jump-started every "In God We Trust" effort in the country's history.

"The first use was at a time of our greatest national crisis, the Civil War," he says, "because, for many people, the Civil War was God's judgment on America. And it revived the old anxiety that, because the Constitution didn't formally acknowledge God, we would suffer." This angst resulted, at first, in an effort to add God and Christ to the preamble, and when that didn't work, supporters persuaded the Secretary of the Treasury in 1864 to put "In God We Trust" on the 2-cent coin.

Recent comments

If the ACLU wants me to pay extra for my In God We Trust plate, they...

anonymous | Oct. 13, 2007 at 9:01 p.m.

Lisa,

Believe all you want. Just don't cram your beliefs down my...

Brad | Oct. 5, 2007 at 7:03 p.m.

A small phrase betokens so much. Religious fanaticism has its...

Moderation | Oct. 5, 2007 at 6:59 p.m.

Image
PhotoIllustration/Bob Noyce

previousnext

Latest comments

Guess if Meyer says he's staying at Florida then he definitely is headed to...

Bronco, Kyle rubber match

ummm utah...dominating Defense???...when?...which game this year has utah...

Is there a liberal that doesn't want Palin to run? :-) BTW, I read. I know...

I totally agree with the author.

I wish I was there what a great win!

RSL championship rally Tuesday

I bet these soccer haters never commented on badminton articles, 'cause they...

This game started out as a ho hum affair then got interesting in the 3rd and...

Letters: Gays' parades offensive

12:31 p.m. I wasn't refering to Earl's comment specifically. This isn't...

Crimes up against gays, religious

Wow, so you pick and choose what data you believe, then discount facts along...

'Savior of the World' in Spanish

This could be a sting.

Advertisements