Should we remove "In God We Trust" from currency?

[Art_from_Ark]

45. I believe fear of godless Commies was the impetus for the 1950s actions

In the 1860s, it was a very vocal Northern preacher who started the ball rolling to get the motto "In God We Trust" put on coins. His rationale was essentially "We aren't winning the war, and it's because we are neglecting the Deity". So the motto was added in 1864 to the new 2-cent piece, and the war was over the next year. So that must have done the trick. Or so some people thought. So the motto was mandated for all coins above 10 cents the year after the war ended (with exceptions made for the $1, $2.50 and $3 gold pieces).

Later, in 1907, new designs were prepared for the $10 and $20 gold pieces. President Theodore Roosevelt objected to the use of the motto on coins-- not for separation of Church and State reasons, but because of the bad press that money got in the Bible, and the fact that money was used for gambling and other immoral purposes. So he mandated that the motto be left off of the new coins. However, this created an uproar in Congress, and they passed a law in 1908 restoring the motto to all gold coins. The motto was added to the penny the next year (that is, 1909, when the Lincoln cent was introduced), and to the dime in 1916, when the Winged Liberty ("Mercury&quot dime was introduced. Interestingly, the motto had been used on the 5-cent nickel coin starting in 1866, but when it was left off of the Buffalo/Indian Head nickel in 1913, no one seemed to care, and the nickel was the only US coin made during the period 1913 to 1938 that did not carry the motto.