Money That Promotes Freedom Of Religion

Despite the many claims by hysterical Christian conservatives that the sky would fall if it ever happened, money has been made without the phrase "In God We Trust" and the sky is still holding up:

Oops! New dollar coins missing 'In God We Trust'

PHILADELPHIA -- An unknown number of new George Washington dollar coins were mistakenly struck without their edge inscriptions, including "In God We Trust," and are fetching around $50 apiece online.

The properly struck dollar coins, bearing the likeness of the nation's first president, are inscribed along the edge with "In God We Trust," "E Pluribus Unum" and the year and mint mark. The flawed coins made it past inspectors and went into circulation Feb. 15.

Evangelical extremists all over the country must be confused as to why God has decided not to smite us for this error. Could it be that God does not care about whether or not we put "In God We Trust" on our money? Why would he? I think that God is far more concerned about whether we as individuals have faith rather than if our money has faith.

I also happen to believe that God believes in the freedoms we have used as the foundation of our country. God may wish us to put our trust in him, but I do not think that He does not want us to infringe on the freedoms of others. I do not think he would want us to tell others what to believe and take our their freedom of religion, their freedom to believe as they wish.

Putting the phrase "In God We Trust" on our currency violates that freedom and the separation between church and state. Many people may see that as an arguement by atheists, but I am not an atheist. I believe in God, but while Christian conservatives may see the removal of "In God We Trust" as an attack on their religion, I see the phrase as an attack on all religions including my own.

If you infringe upon the rights of any religious group, then you are infringing on the rights of all religious groups. By placing "In God We Trust" on our money, we are infringing on the rights of all Americans who do not believe in "our" God, and by doing that, we are saying that our country can infringe on the religious rights of these Americans and therefore all Americans potentially.

In order to protect my own religious freedom, I feel it is necessary to stand up for everyone else's religious freedom.

As a Christian, I believe in the Golden Rule that Christ promoted: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I know I would feel like my freedoms were threatened if the phrase on our money was "In Zeus We Trust." That is why I am trying to follow the Golden Rule by fighting for freedom of religion and equality for all. I do not know why these "Christian" conservatives who disagree with the removal of "In God We Trust" have such a hard time with the Christian concept of the Golden Rule. They are hypocrites in my opinion.

Only by ensuring that everyone is treated equally and has the same rights and freedoms can we truly be a free country. I trust in God that He would agree with me.