Think Progres - For almost a year now, the nation has been locked
in almost constant debate over various state and federal versions of the
Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA), a 20-year-old law that was
broadened by the Supreme Court in 2014 and has since been embraced by
right-wing politicians and pundits — especially religious conservatives. But in
an unusual twist, an atheist activist is galvanizing support for a legal
campaign to use the federal RFRA to remove the phrase “In God we trust” from
U.S. coins and paper bills.
Michael Newdow, who unsuccessfully sued to have “Under God”
removed from the Pledge of Allegiance in 2004, published a guest post on the
The Friendly Atheist blog last Friday outlining a new initiative to challenge
the decades-old policy of printing the religiously themed American national
motto on U.S. currency. He explained that while courts have dismissed claims
that the phrase violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution —
which prohibits Congress from passing laws that establish one religion above
others — his new legal argument is rooted in RFRA’s stipulation that religious
activity cannot be “substantially burdened” without a “compelling government
interest.” The government’s interest in emblazoning currency with “in God we
trust,” Newdow argues, is suspect.
“Because Constitutional principles can be twisted and
perverted, the challenges to this practice under the Establishment Clause have,
so far, failed,” Newdow wrote. “Challenges under RFRA, however, are not as
susceptible to misapplication. This is because every Supreme Court justice
involved in the three RFRA cases heard to date has agreed that, under RFRA,
religious activity may not be substantially burdened without a compelling
governmental interest and laws narrowly tailored to serve that interest.”
Newdow, who plans to file the case in 7 federal court
circuits, told Think Progress that although many Americans simply ignore the
motto, it can be infuriating for those who don’t believe in God.
“Imagine if
Christians had to carry on their body something they disagree with religiously,
like ‘Jesus is a lie’ — how long do you think that would stand?” Newdow said.
“But atheists are so denigrated in this society that people accept this without
a second thought.”
Use of “In God We Trust” has long frustrated hardline
supporters of the separation of church and state, who often note that its
inclusion on U.S. paper currency is a relatively recent phenomenon that emerged
out of a specific historical context. The phrase didn’t even become theofficial
U.S. national motto until 1956, for example, replacing the mantra “E pluribus
unum” during the early years of the Red Scare — an era when the U.S. was locked
in a Cold War with Russia and its officially atheistic communist government.
Paper bills began bearing the aphorism the following year, joining several
kinds of metal coins that had been imprinted with it since 1864. The phrase
“Under God” was also added to the Pledge of Allegiance during this time, and
the state of Ohio changed its motto in 1959 to “With God, all things are
possible.”
For more, please check Think Progress