Opposition to “In God We Trust”

Since “In God We Trust” was adopted in 1956, numerous legal challenges have been undertaken, including one in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by American Atheists’ founder, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, (O’Hair v. Blumenthal) in 1979. The courts have held, despite the legislative record from the debate over the national motto’s adoption in 1956, that “the primary purpose of the slogan was secular.”

At a 1988 hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coinage of the House Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, then-president of American Atheists Jon Murray testified in opposition to “In God We Trust” appearing on coins commemorating the Bicentennial of the Constitution. During his testimony, Murray said, “Having come from nations which were essentially theocracies, having seen theocracies develop among the colonies, and noticing the abuse therein, all references to God […] were deliberately excluded from the Constitution.”

Murray continued:

The Great Seal of the United States, for example, was conceived in 1776, when Franklin, Adams and Jefferson were given the initial task by Congress of designing it. It was Jefferson who suggested E Pluribus Unum for its motto. That motto survived six years of debate before the final adoption by Congress as part of the Seal in 1782, just five years before the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

If that motto was good enough for the Founding Fathers and the Great Seal of the United States, it should be most appropriate for coins today. “In God We Trust” was not suggested at the time period of the formation of our Constitution that [this bill] seeks to commemorate on modern coinage. That phrase was introduced in 1861, some 72 years or three generations of Americans later, by a member of a single fanatical group that sought to convert our Nation into an official theocracy.

To commemorate the intentions of the Founding Fathers’ new coinage, the Constitution alone, secular in origin, secular in intent, and secular in content should be commemorated.