Free Republic

WASHINGTON — A coalition of atheists and agnostics wants the new White House to protect young military members from what they see as rampant religious discrimination in the services. The Secular Coalition for America held a news conference Monday urging new rules against proselytizing and more training for chaplains on how to handle nonreligious troops. "When they say ‘there are no atheists in foxholes’ it’s slanderous," said Wayne Adkins, a former Army first lieutenant who served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. "To deny their existence is to deny that they serve." The coalition also wants President-elect Obama to develop...

Flying under the radar and literally under the ground of congressional bailout meetings were closet Capitol Hill discussions about God and Washington. It seems another revision of America's religious history has been under way -- this time at the $621 million, 580,000-square-foot Capitol Visitor Center, which will open in a couple of months. Most news media recently were covering Tina Fey and Congress' foolish financial bailouts; reporter Bob Unruh and WorldNetDaily were virtually alone in exposing this latest divine omission at the U.S. Capitol. This massive and largely underground museum of sorts (about three-quarters the size of the Capitol itself)...

American taxpayers have spent more than $600 million on a new visitors' center at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and it will have acres of marble floors and walls, photographs of Earth Day, information about an AIDS rally and details about the nation's industrial sector. What it will not include is America's Christian heritage, raising objections from members of Congress and drawing an inquiry from Chuck Norris about whether he can help fix it. The new 580,000-square-foot center, mostly built underneath the grounds just east of the U.S. Capitol to protect the scenic views of the historic building, is about...

FReep This Poll! "Should the motto "In God We Trust" be removed from U.S. currency?" Yes. - It's a violation of the principle of separation of church and state. No. - The motto has historical and patriotic significance and does nothing to establish a state religion. Click onto the link provided. Vote your choice. Thank you FReepers.

Subject: vote on MSNBC for God Here's our chance to let the media know where we stand on our faith in God, as a nation. MSNBC is taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency. Poll is still open so you can vote. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/

Should the motto "In God We Trust" be removed from U.S. currency? * 1266620 responses Yes. It's a violation of the principle of separation of church and state. 52% No. The motto has historical and patriotic significance and does nothing to establish a state religion. 48% Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103424/ Atheist challenges ‘In God We Trust’ Pledge of Allegiance foe Newdow sues to remove motto from U.S. currency updated 9:09 p.m. CT, Fri., Nov. 18, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO - An atheist who has spent four years trying to ban the Pledge of Allegiance from being recited in public schools is now challenging the motto printed on U.S. currency because it refers to God. Michael Newdow seeks to remove “In God We Trust” from U.S. coins and dollar bills, claiming in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that the motto is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and...

Should the motto "In God We Trust" be removed from U.S. currency? Yes. It's a violation of the principle of separation of church and state. No. The motto has historical and patriotic significance and does nothing to establish a state religion.

The atheist Freedom from Religion Foundation has taken its anti-faith message to Denver, the site of the Democratic National Convention. Their "Imagine No Religion" sign demands Denver residents and Democratic Party officials preparing for the convention to envision an America without people who believe in God. In response, Bishop Council Nedd, chairman of the In God We Trust has asked Senator Barack Obama to condemn the sign's message. The Freedom from Religion Foundation President, Dan Barker, has called Christianity "and enemy to humanity" and "the antithesis of freedom." In his letter to Senator Obama Nedd states, "By placing their billboard...

ZION — A school bus driver and amateur artist from the Chicago suburb of Zion has legally changed his name to "In God We Trust." A Lake County circuit court judge approved Steve Kreuscher's (CROY'-shirz) name change petition on Friday. The 57-year-old's first name was changed to "In God," while his last name was changed to "We Trust." He says the new name symbolizes the help God gave him during tough times and says he can't wait to begin signing his artwork with the new moniker.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A judge has upheld the issuance of Indiana license plates bearing the message "In God We Trust," dismissing a constitutional challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. Marion Superior Court Judge Gary L. Miller wrote in a 13-page opinion that the plates were comparable to standard plates issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and were created specifically as such by the Legislature. "Courts are not to second-guess the Indiana General Assembly when it comes to calculations of this sort," Miller wrote, contrasting the In God We Trust plates with other specialty plates that require the...

Parent's objection led to the motto being painted over at a Dallas-area elementary --- THE COLONY — A Dallas-area school will put "In God We Trust" back on a gymnasium wall after the U.S. motto was painted over when one parent objected. The motto had been on a wall at B.B. Owen Elementary School in The Colony. District spokesman Dean Tackett said a parent complained about displaying the word "God" in school, so the phrase was painted over. But Tackett said on Tuesday, in response to complaints from other parents about the hasty removal, "In God We Trust" will be...

There have been battles waged in the United States by special interest groups in recent years in their attempts to remove "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and to have the Christian cross at the Mt. Soledad veterans memorial torn down. There's also been, more or less, a constant barrage of attacks on the national motto, "In God We Trust." But there's also been a group of volunteers working quietly and efficiently to promote recognition of the motto, and their success is evidenced by the several dozen municipalities that already have adopted formal and permanent acknowledgments of that motto....

CYPRESS--This city will be the county's second to display the nation's "In God We Trust" motto inside the Council Chambers after a 2-1 decision by the City Council late Monday night. Councilman Leroy Mills introduced the item. There was opposition from three of the five council members, but two abstained from voting, saying they did not feel it was their place to give their views on religious beliefs. "I have a strong faith, but when I'm sitting here on the dais, and when I'm representing the city I have to leave my personal beliefs aside," Councilman Prakash Narain said before...

"In God We Trust" Back in Proper Place on New $1 Presidential CoinsJanuary 07, 2008 ANN ARBOR, MI – In March 2007, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, alerted Americans that the federal government had removed “In God We Trust” from the face of newly minted $1 Presidential coins and relegated our national motto to the virtually unreadable edge of the coin. The motto appeared to be merely scratches on the edge, unless one looked for it with a magnifying glass. To make matters worse, thousands of the coins did...

ANN ARBOR, MI – In March 2007, the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, alerted Americans that the federal government had removed “In God We Trust” from the face of newly minted $1 Presidential coins and relegated our national motto to the virtually unreadable edge of the coin. The motto appeared to be merely scratches on the edge, unless one looked for it with a magnifying glass. To make matters worse, thousands of the coins did not even have the motto stamped on the edge as required by law. Religious -...

The words "In God We Trust" have been placed in prominent display on U.S. coinage since 1864, until a new $1 coin series honoring U.S. presidents was introduced at the beginning of 2007, when the motto was concealed on the edge. But no more. Congress has approved a consolidated spending bill, and President Bush has signed it into law, that includes a provision for the motto to be placed on either the front or back of new coins in the series. WND broke the story earlier when the coins were announced, showing how the acknowledgment to God was hidden on...

The “In God We Trust” inscription, currently on the edge of the presidential $1 coin, apparently will return to the obverse (front) or reverse (back) of the coin, thanks to a bill recently passed by Congress. Photo Terms of Use WASHINGTON (BP)--Presidential one dollar coins are the only U.S. coins currently being issued by the United States Mint that have the inscription "In God We Trust" along the edge, but public pressure soon may send the motto back to the front or back of the coins. Legislation introduced by Sens. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., and Robert Byrd, D.-W.Va., that would...

San Francisco (AP) -- An atheist seeking to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and U.S. currency is taking his arguments back to a federal appeals court. Michael Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, sued the Elk Grove Unified School District in 2000 for forcing public school children to recite the pledge, saying it was unconstitutional. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002, but two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Newdow lacked standing to sue because he didn't have custody of the daughter on whose behalf he...

Two blockbuster religious liberty cases - involving the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and "In God We Trust" on our money - will be heard this week by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider will be arguing alongside lawyers for the Department of Justice in defense of the national motto, "In God We Trust." Both lawsuits were filed by atheist Michael Newdow, who claims that the Pledge of Allegiance and national motto are unconstitutional "establishments" of religion. Ninth Circuit judges have previously heard and agreed with Newdow's position that...