Some days, when I'm bored or just curious, I go online and look up things. Today, for example, I checked into something I knew for a long time, but never had the historical information to back said knowledge.

"In God We Trust", which adorns our currency, was placed on said currency in the 1950s, in the same era as the McCarthy-added "Under God" line to the Pledge of Allegience. "Under God" was put in place because of our irrational fear of the athiestic, Communist Soviet Union. I submit that "In God We Trust" was put in place for roughly the same reason, because we feared a system radically different from our own and wished to assert our religious bias.

In as such, I would submit that the use of that phrase on our currency violates the First Amendment, which, among other things, provides that the government will not favor any religion, nor limit the people from practising any religion. By placing "In God..." on our currency, we are playing favorites. By saying "Under God" in our pledge, we are providing to one set of religions. Unfortunately, so long as our government is run by politians, these things are unlikely to change. I was actually fairly happy to hear that the new dollar coins (which should replace the bills) were going to omit "In God...", but then disheartened when it turned out they would proclaim it on the rim. At that point you're hiding it, almost like a guilty child with a stolen toy.