“In God We Trust”: It Is Constitutional Or Not?

There as been a quiet debate going on in coffee houses across America and in public internet forums such as Facebook: “Is it a violation of church and state to have ‘In God We Trust’ on our money?” Is it constitutional or unconstitutional?

There are those that point out that in our country, our government, at all levels, must maintain separation of church and state. For all practical purposes, this means that the government must treat all religions exactly the same. For example, the government could outlaw all ritual killings of animals for religious purposes. This would be treating all religions the same. The government can’t pass a law that says ritual killing of animals for kosher meat is okay, but killing chickens in the practice of Voodoo is illegal. That would be showing favor to one religion over another, the “big no-no” when it comes to separation of church and state.

Those that maintain it is unconstitutional to have the motto “In God We Trust” appear on our money as a violation of separation of church and state argue that it favors one type of religion over another, namely those that believe that God is the name of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. For example, Christian faiths don’t have an issue with “God” appearing on our money, while Jewish faiths maintain that one must print “G~d”. The Muslim faiths say Allah is the name that should appear, while many pagan traditions maintain that the Goddess is in charge of things (and, by the way, she’s really ticked off). Of course, the atheist will say no one is in charge. But still, the argument goes, having “God” appear is the big no-no and in this way, the government is showing favor of one religion over another.

Those that argue it isn’t unconstitutional say that our founding fathers intended this to be a Christian nation or that God can represent any religion or even if it wasn’t unconstitutional in the first place, they wouldn’t have added it in the 1950s in the midst of McCarthyism. Many argue that doing so is a move away from God and into a society without morals.

There really isn’t a good constitutional argument presented by those in favor of it that I have found; every reason seems to be religious and, incidentally, argued by the religion that appears most favored in the language of the motto itself.

I believe the correct answer to the question of constitutionality is “Yes and No”. Yes, it is partially unconstitutional, and no it is, partially, not unconstitutional.

Lets split our money into their two natural groups: cash and coin.

First, lets talk about our cash money, the bills we put in our wallets, purses, piggy banks and pockets: ones, fives, twenties, fifties and hundreds. These are not distributed by the United States Government!

They are distributed by a private bank called the Federal Reserve Bank. Here is how it works: “Federal Reserve Banks obtain the notes from our Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). It pays the BEP for the cost of producing the notes, which then become liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks, and obligations of the United States Government.” (Federal Reserve Notes).

The Federal Reserve Bank has even issued its own stock (Timberlake, 2008)! So the correct answer is that a private company can print “In God We Trust” on it’s paper without violating the constitution of the United States.

Don’t believe me? Take a bill out and read what is on it: “Federal Reserve Note” right there on the top. Most folks don’t realize that the federal reserve isn’t part of the government, it is a private bank (Timberlake, 2008).

On the other hand, coins are minted by the various U.S. mints and is money in the truest sense of the word. The U.S. mint began in 1792 and has been the federal agency responsible for the production and distribution of coinage every since.

At that time and for many decades afterward, coins were the only money used in the United States. Paper money hadn’t become the norm yet. It wasn’t until 1861 that the first greenback was printed and put into circulation. But still, to this day, a penny is a penny, a quarter, a quarter, etc.

They are made by the federal government, for the federal government, and issued by the federal government. Therefore, it most definitely is a violation of the required separation of church and state to have “In God We Trust” appear on our coins as it shows favor by the government of one religion over another.

So I believe the correct answer to the question as to whether or not it is unconstitutional to have “In God We Trust” on our money to be: Yes and No!


References (in addition to the links provided):

Federal Reserve Notes, 2009, U.S. Department of Treasury, retrieved on 08-25-2009 from http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml#q2

Timberlake, by Richard H, 2008; Federal Reserve System, The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, 2nd Edition, retrieved on August 25, 2009 from http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/FederalReserveSystem.html