"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." That's what it says in the first amendment of the Constitution, and yet Congress seems perfectly fine with the U.S. motto respecting the establishment of a religion. It's on our money, and it's in our pledge. For the religious freedom of our country, "In God We Trust" should be removed from our currency. Those who don't believe in God obviously cannot freely exercise their religions, since the government is categorizing all Americans as Christians.

As a Pagan citizen, I feel that all religions besides those who believe in the biblical God are being discriminated against because of this phrase. We have the freedom to express our religion, but it seems that Christians are granted more freedom than they should. Some religions are discriminated against if they even speak of their gods, while Christians get their god on the money. This is unconstitutional, and it will solve many religious disputes if the phase is omitted completely. The Pledge is slightly different. Nobody has to recite the Pledge if they don't want to, but money is something that we pull out of our wallets every day. It affects all of us, there's no way to avoid it. In the Constitution, it clearly states that Congress will make no law respecting a religion, and yet they did. Since 1955, the motto has been "In God We Trust," and people have attempted to get it removed, but Congress seems unwilling to listen. True, there are wards going on and other matters to attend to, but religious freedom seems just as important.

"'In God We Trust' should stay on the money. If the Buddhists and Muslims who came over here don't like it, they can go back to where they came from. They will not be missed." This is a comment I found while researching the history of the U.S. motto. This comment was made by a close-minded Christian. If the motto is representing all Americans, then this person might as well represent us, too. Is this how we want the rest of the world to see us? As close-minded people who only care about ourselves, and believe only one religion is the "right" one? The U.S. motto is supposed to represent all Americans. Since the motto only truly represents the majority of America, why don't we just put "Land of the Whites" on our money? It's no different than our current motto; it categorizes people. We're all different, living under a false statement, We're supposed to be diverse, able to express ourselves, but that's not possible if we're generalized.

Many people are complaining about the new dollar coin that isn't so new anymore. They're saying the motto is omitted, even though it's printed on the side. What I don't understand is why they're making such a fuss over one coin, when the rest of the coins include the motto. They can honestly live if one of their coins doesn't mention God. Look at the rest of us; we've had to live with the motto since it was first established. Get over it.

In conclusion, the U.S motto is unconstitutional and should be removed from the currency. I don’t think it’s right that Congress went against their own Constitution, and created a law respecting a religion. Many Christians tell others of different religions, “If it doesn’t affect you, then just leave it alone.” I disagree with this statement, because it does affect me, and a lot of other people as well.