"In God We Trust !" Is America a "god-centric" country ?

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

"In God We Trust " on the US currency...So what do American atheists use for money[ so as not to feel like hypocrites]  ?

Metta Zenda

[Steph]

The heathens use Monopoly money

[Anatta]

The heathens use Monopoly money

Kia Ora Steph,

Isn't the American dollar Monopoly money anyway ? 

Metta Zenda

[Steph]

Kia Ora Steph,

Isn't the American dollar Monopoly money anyway ? 

Metta Zenda

Well in Canada we do.  Just kidding folks [Ducking and running] 

[Anatta]

Well in Canada we do.  Just kidding folks [Ducking and running] 

Kia Ora Steph,

I see...so they all move to Canada or use Canadian dollars...Um makes sense...

Metta Zenda

[apple pie]

I think it must have been put there by a Chinese American, and it refers to the god of wealth http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/607569/Cai-Shen

[Cindi Jones]

Money? What is money? I use my computer to push bits of data from here to there. When I'm at the store, I use plastic. I never touch the stuff..... it's dirty!

[justmeinoz]

Given the way the American Dollar has been going, maybe God is not impressed?

Karen.

[tekla]

"In God We Trust " on the US currency...So what do American atheists use for money[ so as not to feel like hypocrites]

Well it says "In God We Trust" but the second part of that (that they left off the money) is:  All Others Pay Cash.
I've always thought what our money should say is:
Anything worth doing, is worth doing for money.  But no one ever listens to me.


And there is no picture of god, just Dead Presidents, the big ones, 1- Washington, 2- Jefferson, 5-Lincoln, 20- Jackson, 50 - Grant, for the most part, but a few weirdos like 100 - Ben Franklin (real famous, not a president and 10 - Alexander Hamilton (invented money as American knows it) make appearances also. 
We have weird ones:
The high-denomination bills were issued in a small size in 1929, along with the $1 through $100 denominations. The designs were as follows:
$500: William McKinley (Assassinated - so very dead president)
$1,000: Grover Cleveland (obscure at best dead president)
$5,000: James Madison (OK, wrote most of the Constitution, also dead, also a president)
$10,000: Salmon P. Chase (Sec of Treasury under Lincoln, Supreme Court Justice - and I don't know why he's got a bill.)
$100,000: Woodrow Wilson (highly controversial dead president)

But I've only seen a 500 once, and never any of the others.  I think you have to go to the Federal Reserve Bank to get them.

[justmeinoz]

The pictures on our notes change every so often. I'm sure one of them had a picture of an historic country town on it.  With the pub smack in the middle of the picture.  Much more appropriate than some dead bloke!!

Karen.

[Adio]

Randomly saw this thread and had to laugh at this:

Kia Ora Steph,

Isn't the American dollar Monopoly money anyway ? 

Metta Zenda

I don't consider myself an atheist anymore, but I used to mark out the "In God We Trust" on bills with a sharpie.  Pretty sure it's illegal, but I did it anyway.  That was years ago though and now I primarily use a debit card.

[Lisbeth]

And there is no picture of god, just Dead Presidents,

No, no. You've got it all wrong. There's no picture of god on the money because money IS god for Americans. When it says, "In God We Trust," it's just saying that you should trust that piece of paper in your hand.

[xXRebeccaXx]

I pay for everything in blood.

[LifeInNeon]

I still get pissed about that being our national motto. We have so many more appropriate things it could have been, and there's now one ridiculous Supreme Court ruling that has said it's a phrase that has been secularized by non-denominational usage, so it's not going anywhere without congress. And good luck being the senator who runs against God. >.<

[tekla]

There's no picture of god on the money because money IS god for Americans.

Sounds good to me, works even.  After all, both are fictions created out of whole cloth and sustained by everyone 'believing' and little else.

[Anatta]

Kia Ora,

"On July 11, 1954, just one month after the phrase "under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance, the U.S. Congress enacted Public Law 84-140, which required the motto on all coins and currency. The law was approved by President Eisenhower on July 30, 1956, and the motto was progressively added to paper money over a period from 1957 to 1966.
In 1956 the phrase was legally adopted as the United States' national motto by a law passed by the 84th United States Congress.(Public Law 84-851)", and the United States Code at 36 U.S.C. § 302, now states: "'In God we trust' is the national motto."
The motto was first challenged in Aronow v. United States in 1970, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled: "It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency 'In God We Trust' has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise."

It's strange when you look at the back of a US twenty dollar bill where the White House bears an uncanny resemblance to a place of worship and above it the words "In God We Trust!" 

Metta Zenda

[tekla]

The White House does not look like a church, at least churches in America.

[Anatta]

The White House does not look like a church, at least churches in America.

Kia Ora Tek,

"The White House bears an uncanny resemblance to a place of worship!"

Metta Zenda

[VeryGnawty]

I think we need to change the motto to "In Pasta We Trust"

Personally, I trust the omnipotent god of pasta about as much as I trust any other god.  The only significant difference is that I can prove that pasta actually exists.  And, it is tasty.  What has any other religion given us, apart from holy books and "morality" which is outdated by at least a millenium?

[tekla]

Someone beat you to it, see: Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
http://www.venganza.org/