Written Statement
of Jon G. Murray,
President, American Atheists,
Inc.
submitted to
One Hundredth Congress
Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs and Coinage of the Committee on Banking,
Finance and Urban Affairs
Rep. Frank Annunzio,
Supplemental to oral remarks to be given Wednesday, September 14, 1988, at
10:00 A.M. in Room 2128 Rayburn House Office Building at a hearing of the
Subcommittee on H.R. 3314, legislation "To modernize United States circulating
coin designs of which one reverse will have a theme of the Bicentennial of the
Constitution."
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, American Atheists is a
nonprofit, nonpolitical, educational organization dedicated "to advocate, labor
for, and promote in all lawful ways, the complete and absolute separation of
state and church." [FOOTNOTE: From the "Aims and Purposes" of American Atheists
as recorded in documents of incorporation.] It is with this purpose in mind that
our interest has been drawn to H.R. 3314, a bill "to modernize United States
circulating coin designs for which one reverse will have a theme of the
Bicentennial of the Constitution" now under consideration by the Subcommittee on
Consumer Affairs and Coinage. American Atheists are staunch supporters and
defenders of both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution of the
American Atheists, therefore, applauds the introduction of H.R. 3314 in the
House of Representatives by Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Lindy Boggs
(D-LA), Rep. Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. (R-SC), and Rep. Thomas E. Petri (R-WI).
We feel that it is high time that the Constitution of the
We do, however, object to the fact that pursuant to 31 U.S.C. Section 324
("Inscriptions on Coins," May 18, 1908) and 31 U.S.C. Section 324a
("Inscriptions on Currency and Coins," July 11, 1955) the coins proposed by H.R.
3314 would bear upon them the motto "In God We Trust." It is our position that
the inclusion of that motto on coins and currency violates the Free Speech, Free
Exercise and Establishment clauses of the First Amendment and the equal
protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United
States in that it is a religious phrase showing that the government has selected
and established a particular monotheistic type of religion. Atheists, as other
citizens, must carry with them at all times and "present" this religious slogan,
presumably as their own, every time they purchase with cash. It, therefore,
violates the Free Exercise clause.
In addition, Atheists cannot remove this religious slogan because there is a
criminal law (18 U.S.C. Sections 331 and 333) prohibiting same, and thus they
are denied the right of free speech and equal protection under the laws, being
forced to speak the religious words of Congress by repeatedly presenting the
religious motto and slogan adopted by the United States Congress. We also find
it particularly inappropriate, in conjunction with the thrust of H.R. 3314, to
slander the founding document that this bill purports to commemorate by
including such religious graffiti as the motto "In God We Trust" along with the
designs suggested by the bill. It would be far more in keeping with the nature
of the document that H.R. 3314 seeks to commemorate to have the coins on which
such commemoration appears remain as secular as the Constitution itself. We
would like to propose the substitution of the phrase "E Pluribus Unum" for the
motto "In God We Trust." The historical importance of that phrase and its origin
was presented succinctly in a paper read at the Annual Convention of the
American Numismatic Association,
The following is the pertinent excerpt.
The phrase E
Pluribus Unum is found in "In Moretum," a poem
dwelling on habits and customs ascribed to Virgil:
It manus in gyrum; Paullatin singula vires
Dependunt proplas; color est E pluribus unum.
Meaning that "the species of pottage which forms at once the title
and subject is described as being made of various materials which the peasant
grinds up in a pestle."
English
newspapers, for more than half a century before the union of the colonies,
carried E Pluribus Unum as part of their motto to imply that their product was
the work of many hands. . . .
On July 4, 1776,
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were appointed by the
Congress to draft a design for the Great Seal of the
Thomson asked many
of his friends to help him, among them a young man by the name of Barton. Barton
worked rapidly and produced a design which Thomson presented to Congress, which
accepted it on the tenth of June, 1782. It was used for the first time on
September 16, 1782. The design was the spread eagle with the heart-shaped shield
in front of it, and holding a few arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the
other, with a scroll held in its beak bearing the motto E Pluribus Unum.
The first coin
struck in this country that bore this motto was the
. . .
The motto was
first used on the coins struck at the United States Mint in 1795.
It can be clearly seen that the motto "E Pluribus Unum" meaning "One Unity
composed of Many Parts" is a fitting motto to describe the Constitution of the
American Atheists understands that the omission of "In God We Trust" from the
half dollar, quarter dollar, dime coin, five-cent coin and one-cent coin as
proposed by H.R. 3314, and or the substitution of an alternate motto, would
require an amendment to modify 31 U.S.C. Section 324 and 31 U.S.C. Section 324a
for the purposes of a special coinage issue commemorating the bicentennial of
the Constitution. We respectfully submit that such an amendment be recommended
by the Committee to the full House. The coinage can be distributed and used very
efficiently without a religious motto as, in fact, it
was for many years prior to the laws cited herein.
It is important for the Committee to know that American Atheists and others
have mounted legal challenges to the constitutionality of the motto "In God We
Trust" on the currency and coins in the past. Those attempts were unsuccessful
but they have served as a learning experience for new legal actions which
American Atheists intends to file in 1989, the Constitutional bicentennial year,
in the federal courts. The prior cases were "Aronow v.
It is the continued position of American Atheists, despite these rulings,
that the laws providing for the national motto and placement of the slogan on
the currency of the United States clearly fails all three tests of
constitutionality under the First Amendment as stated in "Committee for
Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist," 413 U.S. 756 (1973), "Taken together these
decisions dictate that to pass muster under the Establishment Clause the law in
question, first, must reflect a clearly secular legislative purpose, e.g.,
"Epperson v. Arkansas," 393 U.S. 97 (1968); second, must have a
primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, e.g., "McGowen
v. Maryland," 366 U.S. 420 (1961): "School District of Abington
Township v. Schempp ," 374
U.S. 203 (1963); and, third, must avoid excessive government entanglement with
religion, e.g., "Walz v. Tax Comm'n," 397 U.S. 664 (1970), "Lemon v.
Kurtzman," 403 U.S. 602, 612-613 (1971),
and " Tilton v. Richardson," 403 U.S. 672, 678 (1971)."
Law 36 U.S.C. 186, titled "National Motto," states in its entirety: "The
national motto of the
This law purports to have the secular purpose of fixing "inscriptions on
coins" and some of those inscriptions and representations are secular, such as
the word "
Law 31 U.S.C. Section 324a, titled "Inscription on currency and coins,"
states in its entirety, At such time as new dies for the printing of currency
are adopted, the dies shall bear, at such place or places thereon as the
Secretary of the Treasury may determine to be appropriate, the inscription "In
God We Trust" and thereafter this inscription shall appear on all United States
currency and coins. This law (1) has no clear secular purpose, (2) advances
religion, and (3) entangles government with religion excessively, thereby
failing all three tests for constitutionality under the Establishment Clause.
Neither "Aronow v. United States" nor "
O'Hair v. Blumenthal" was accepted on petition for writ of
certiorari to the Supreme Court of the
It is the intention of American Atheists to pursue the causes of action set
forth in those cases in circuits other than the Ninth or Fifth Circuits with the
goal of placing the issues in front of the Supreme Court of the
It is important, in view of the stated purpose of H.R. 3314, to turn at this
point to a historical review of how the phrase "In God We Trust" came to be
included on
Then came the post-Civil War insurgence of religious
fanaticism onto the national scene. On February 3, 1863, eleven Protestant
denominations (including United Presbyterians and the Methodist Episcopalian
General Conference) organized the National Reform Association. Their aim was to
"reform" the Constitution and one of its principle purposes was to amend that
document to "indicate that this is a Christian nation." The association formally
petitioned Congress to amend the preamble of the Constitution so as to read:
We, the people of
the United States, HUMBLY ACKNOWLEDGING ALMIGHTY GOD AS THE SOURCE OF ALL
AUTHORITY AND POWER IN CIVIL GOVERNMENT, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS THE RULER
AMONG THE NATIONS, HIS REVEALED WILL AS THE SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND, IN ORDER TO
CONSTITUTE A CHRISTIAN GOVERNMENT, AND in order to form a more perfect union,
establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS and the blessings
of LIFE, liberty, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS to ourselves, our posterity, AND
ALL THE PEOPLE, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States
of America. [Proposed amendments have been capitalized.]
The Christian amendment never succeeded in obtaining either the approval of
Congress of any of the states. The National Reform Association attracted many
eminent men into its ranks. These were men such as Supreme Court Justice William
Strong, Prof. J. H. McIlvaine of Princeton, former
governors J. W. Geary and James Pollock of
During the tenure of Director Pollock the Rev. Mark Richards Watkinson
(1824-1877), pastor of "The Old Ridley Baptist Meeting House" which came to be
known as "The First Particular Baptist Church of Ridleyville," (which in turn changed its name to "The
Prospect Hill Baptist Church" in 1887) founded in 1832 in what was Ridleyville and is now Prospect Park, Delaware County,
Pennsylvania, sat down on November 13, 1861, and wrote then Treasury Secretary
Salmon P. Chase. The letter read as follows:
Dear Sir:
You are about to
submit your annual report to Congress respecting the affairs of the national
finances.
One fact touching
our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the ecognition of the Almighty God in some form in our coins.
You are probably a
Christian. What if our Republic were now shattered beyond recognition? Would not
the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we
were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the Goddess of Liberty
we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words
`perpetual union'; within this ring the all-seeing eye crowned with a halo;
beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the
number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words `God, liberty,
law.'
This would make a
beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us
from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the divine
protection we have personally claimed. From my heart I have felt our national
shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.
To you first I
address a subject that must be agitated.
Within a week after receipt of Rev. Watkinson's letter, Secretary Chase sent
a letter to the new Director of the Mint, James Pollock.
Dear Sir: No
nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His
defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national
coins.
You will cause a
device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the
fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.
[FOOTNOTE: According to a Committee on Coinage, Weights and Measures Report
to accompany H.R. 17296 titled "To Restore The Motto
`In God We Trust' to The Coins of the
In response to this directive Director Pollock came up with various wordings
such as "Our Trust Is In God," "Our Trust in God," "Our
God and Our Country," "God And Our Country," and "God Our Trust," which was most
preferred by Pollock. In December 1863, designs were submitted to the Secretary
of the Treasury. On December 9, 1863, Secretary Chase wrote a reply to Director
Pollock containing the following remarks:
I approve of your mottoes, only suggesting that on that with the
The coin motto had been born. Congress was approached and "An Act in
Amendment of an Act entitled, `An Act Relating to Foreign Coins and the Coinage
of Cents at the Mint of the United States,' approved February twenty-one,
eighteen hundred and fifty-seven," was passed by Congress on April 22, 1864.
That Act contained the phrase "...and the shape, mottoes, and devices of said
coins shall be fixed by the director of the mint, with the approval of the
Secretary of the Treasury;. . ." Mint Director Pollock
had carte blanche and could, at his discretion, Christianize our coins.
WHAT COULD NOT BE DONE THROUGH THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE WAS DONE THROUGH THE
SCHEMING OF SEVERAL MEN. The first public issue coin to employ the new motto was
the bronze two-cent piece which was issued from 1864 to 1873.
The next person to influence the coinage design was Theodore Roosevelt. On
August 3, 1903, Roosevelt saw an equestrian statue of General Sherman which the
sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens had prepared for the
When considering his designs, Saint-Gaudens came
across the problem of inscriptions. In that regard, he considered the motto "In
God We Trust" and in the words of his son Homer Saint-Gaudens in the book, The Reminiscences of Augustus
Saint-Gaudens , which he edited, said:
"The motto `In God We Trust' as an inartistic intrusion not required by law, he
wholly discarded and thereby drew down upon himself the lightning of public
comment."
Theodore Roosevelt disapproved of the motto "In God We Trust," but not for
artistic reasons. He felt essentially that it was blasphemous for such a motto
to appear on mere coins. He expressed those sentiments in a letter to William
Boldly on November 11, 1907, which said in part:
My own feeling in
the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins,
or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good but does positive
harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege.
. . . It is a motto which it is indeed well to have inscribed on our great
national monuments, in our temples of justice, in our legislative halls, and in
buildings such as those at West Point and
Again the religious community fell upon the Congress and the President with
letters of protest and with numerous petitions demanding the restoration of the
motto "In God We Trust" that had appeared on *some* coins since 1864.
The Congressman
says the House Committee wants to pass a bill restoring the motto to the coin. I
tell him it is not necessary; it is rot; but the Congressman says there is a
misapprehension as to the religious purport of it -- it is so easy to stir up a
sensation and misconstrue the President's motive -- and that the Committee is
agitated as to the effect of a veto. I repeat, it is rot, pure rot; but I am
telling the Congressman if Congress wants to pass a bill reestablishing the
motto, I shall not veto it. You may as well know it in the Senate also.
The bill was passed in the House on March 8, 1908, and in the Senate on May
13, 1908, becoming Public Law No. 120. The law said in part "Be it enacted by
the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That the motto `In God We Trust,' heretofore inscribed on
certain denominations of the gold and silver coins of the United States of
America, shall hereafter be inscribed upon all such gold and silver coins of
said denominations as heretofore." Theodore Roosevelt signed it, as approved, on
May 18, 1908.
Later, the Cold War was to come to the United States and with it the hysteria
of McCarthyism. In this climate, the religious community again moved to capture
the symbols of the nation. At that time a man by the name of Matthew R. Rothert from Camden, Arkansas, was the president of the
Arkansas Numismatic Society. He had joined the American Numismatic Association
in 1946, and was eventually elected president of that association for the
1965-1967 term. In a speech to the Arkansas group on
November 11, 1953, he discussed the idea of including "In God We Trust" on paper
money. The response to his speech was enthusiastic and that prompted him to send
a written proposal to Secretary of the Treasury Humphrey, and also to President
Eisenhower and Secretary of Commerce Sinclair Weeks. [FOOTNOTE: Dudley L.
McClure, "The Motto on our Money -- In God We Trust," "Coins," December 1972, p.
47.]
Just as in the case of the Rev. Watkinson in 1861, one letter prompted the
wheels of the executive branch into motion and on June 7, 1955, H.R. 619
"Providing for the inscription of `In God We Trust' on all United States
Currency and Coins," was introduced in the House. In the Congressional
Record , June 7, 1955, page 7796, the
intent of the bill was made clear by Mr. Bennett of Florida.
I sincerely hope
that the Senate will give its prompt approval to this proposal. In these days
when imperialistic and materialistic communism seeks to attack and destroy
freedom, we should continuously look for ways to strengthen the foundations of
our freedom. At the base of our freedom is our faith in God and the desire of
Americans to live by His will and His guidance. As long as this country trusts
in God, it will prevail. To serve as a constant reminder of this truth, it is
highly desirable that our currency and coins should bear these inspiring words
"In God We Trust."
On June 29, 1955, Lyndon Baines Johnson (D-TX) introduced Calendar No. 642,
H.R. 619 "A bill to provide that all United States currency shall bear the
inscription `In God We Trust.' " The bill was passed
that date without any serious debate. The Cold War, however, was not over, nor
were the residuals of McCarthyism. On March 22, 1956,
H.R. Res. 396 was introduced to establish "In God We Trust" as a national motto.
The bill became law on July 30, 1956 (36 U.S.C. Section 186). That law regarding
the establishment of a non-secular national motto, has been relied upon by the
defendants in both "Aronow v. United States" and
"O'Hair v. Blumenthal" to give "patriotic" meaning to
several laws, one passed forty-eight years prior, in 1908, and one passed one
year prior in 1955.
This use is to invoke the discredited theory of the efficacy of an ex post
facto law in an attempt to gain authority for a prior law by referral back to a
later or subsequent law. If Congress had truly been expressing the collective
will of the people, the act providing for the adoption of "In God We Trust" as a
national motto should have preceded the coinage motto bill of 1908.
We can see from the foregoing brief history that two fanatically religious
individuals separated by some ninety-two years of history were principally
responsible for the events that culminated in the placing of an unconstitutional
religious motto on United States coins and currency. The issue of coin and
currency mottoes was never submitted to the electorate for any type of vote. It
was not by the overwhelming voice of the people that a religious motto was
interjected into our coins, currency, national motto, and pledge. The events of
1954, 1955, and 1956 in regard to the establishment of religious mottoes slipped
through Congress almost unnoticed in the midst of the McCarthy reign of terror.
It is also evident that Theodore Roosevelt was only desirous of making a good
faith effort to modernize and beautify the coinage. A similar effort is being
instituted here today in the form of H.R. 3314.
Yet, that seemingly innocent desire of Theodore Roosevelt plunged him into
the midst of controversy and brought the wrath of the religious community down
upon his administration. American Atheists does not desire to see the
deliberations concerning H.R. 3314 turn into a forum for modern day religious
zealots to arouse the level of controversy that was generated by Theodore
Roosevelt's attempt to improve the coinage.
In that regard we are somewhat apprehensive that our input into the hearings
on H.R. 3314 will generate an avalanche of letters to the members of the
Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, from the more religious of
their constituencies. On the other hand, American Atheists feels that it is
important to honor the Constitution during its bicentennial year in a way that
will not obfuscate the contribution of the document's secular nature, a trait
which makes it unique among founding documents.
American Atheists wants to leave the Committee with the point that Atheists
are patriotic Americans who desire only to exhibit their patriotism in secular
ways. When the government of the United States sees fit to place the value of
patriotism or adherence to constitutional principles predominantly in a
religious context, whether on coins or in the form of a pledge, an oath, or an
invocation, it serves to weaken the bonds that hold all citizens of this country
in common.
We ask that the symbolism on our coins and currency not serve to divide
Americans into religionists and secularists, but tend to unite all citizens in
an equal appreciation of our constitutional democracy.
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