Suppose you are a devout Christian, a Jew, a Moslem, a Hindu, or even an atheist. How would you feel if, in order to get a job to support yourself, you had to first sign a legally binding statement in which you declare: "The only true God is Sadam Hussein. There is no other upon Whom I will trust." Would you want to do this?

For years, in fact almost since this slogan was placed on United States currency, atheists have tried their best to have this slogan removed. They claim the obvious, that when they use money with the "IN GOD WE TRUST" slogan (hereafter referred to as "IGWT") that they are being forced to declare their trust in a divine Being; and therefore their right to the religious freedom to believe in any god they choose, or no god if they so choose, is being violated.

If the "GOD" in the IGWT slogan was a religious Entity, then this right of the atheist would indeed be violated.

Here are two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on this matter. There may be more, but these two will demonstrate sufficiently what needs to be seen.

Decision #1: "Aronow v. United States," 432 F.2d 242 (1970) in the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit The court ruled that: "It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency 'In God We Trust' has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise."

Decision #2: "Madalyn Murray O'Hair, et al. v. W. Michael Blumenthal, Secret "Madalyn Murray O'Hair, et al. v. W. Michael Blumenthal, Secretary of Treasury, et al" 588 F.2d 1144 (1979) in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The United States District Court, Western District of Texas, referring to the wording of the Ninth Circuit above, ruled that: "From this it is easy to deduce that the Court concluded that the primary purpose of the slogan was secular; it served as secular ceremonial purpose in the obviously secular function of providing a medium of exchange. As such it is equally clear that the use of the motto on the currency or otherwise does not have a primary effect of advancing religion." This ruling was sustained by the Fifth Circuit court.

We have been conditioned to think of a division between secular and religious leadership. This concept was in place as early as ancient Rome. In fact, in 27 b.c.e. Aggripa built the Pantheon, which was a temple to all the gods worshipped by the various peoples under Rome's umbrella government. Roman emperors never had a problem with the religious gods worshipped by any of their subjects, as long as they also recognized the Roman emperor as the god of real world affairs. Their attitude was, in essence, "Look to whatever gods you will for your spiritual support, so long as your faith does not interfere with my laws and dictates."

In other words, as long as the peoples under Roman rule set the will of Rome first, and did not allow their religious beliefs to cross paths with Roman law or the will of the Emperor, then anyone was free to worship any god they chose. Or worship no religious god whatsoever...but worship of the Emperor was mandatory.

Our secular government today works exactly the same way. We disguise our worship of the government's "GOD" in the IGWT slogan by calling our worship "patriotism". We use the word "patriotism" to describe exactly the same kind of allegiance Rome required of its citizens, which historical textbooks call "Emperor worship". Yes, it is exactly the same thing.

The difference today is that the "GOD" on the money is hidden from public knowledge. Of course, this can be said of the "God" or "G-d" of all religions. So there is a real blurring between the "GOD" on the IGWT monetary slogan, and the deities of religions.

Add to this the fact that people do not see "worship" as something to be given to a non-spiritual, non-religious, real world entity and it is easy to see why people think that the "GOD" in whom they declare their trust each time they use U.S. money, or any money of any nation that is pegged to U.S. money; and their religious deity or deities, are one and the same.

There is only one kind of worship: Trust. Trust includes complete allegiance. If you truly are convinced that deity X has all the power and will protect you and provide for you, then you don't need deities Y, Z, or even A, B, or C.

When you spend money, you are exchanging what represents wealth you have created with your labors for wealth produced from others' labours. That is a legal transaction. It carries more weight than any prayers, or chants, or bowings, or wailings, or magic words, or whatever it is that people do in their various religious worship ceremonies. Why? Because all of that nonsense does not produce anything of real value.

On the other hand, when you work a job, you are producing value. When you perform a required service for which you are paid, you have produced real value. Even if you just won or inherited your money, someone somewhere produced real value that has found its way into your hands; and if that money had not come to you in such a serendipidous or fortunate manner, you would have had to earn it yourself by producing wealth for which someone was willing to exchange their wealth.

In our international society, money is the standard of exchange. And today, almost all the serious currencies of other nations are pegged to the U.S. Dollar. The easy way to define "pegged" is that other nations' currencies may look different, and may have different relative values, but they all function as U.S. currency. They all cause the user to trust in the "GOD" of the U.S. currency.

And who is this "GOD"? The short, easy answer that doesn't tell you any more than you knew before you asked the question, is that the "GOD" of the U.S. currency is the person who ultimately owns the monetary system. No, it's not Alan Greenspan. He is just a manager, one of many managers. The scope of ownership goes far beyond the comprehension of almost anyone alive today.

Do I know who he is? Yes, I do believe I may...but because I can't prove it, I'm not going to say at this time. But I can tell you this: He definitely is NOT the Supreme Being. He definitely is NOT the one I can prove to be the One who was worshipped by Abraham, and who covenanted with Jacob, and who has since making that covenant been rejected not only by Jacob but by the entire world; and who is going to take it all back by force, and destroy the one who presently owns the money and is the "GOD" of the world, the "GOD" who forces us all to blaspheme the One worshipped by Abraham daily by using the IGWT god's money.

So I mark the "IN GOD WE TRUST" slogan off my money. It won't change anything because it is still his money and so I still have to trust in the god of this world if I'm going to eat or have a place to live. But at least I can do this, and register my protest; and I can get the attention of others and perhaps find a few who are willing and hungry to learn the proven truth about what is going on and what is going to happen.

Marking the IGWT off my money is something I can do.

In case you are interested, the monetary system is a major part of what Isaiah calls "the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations" in Isaiah chapter 25. This "vail" will be removed for those who live in the kingdom of Israel to come. No one living in the proper kingdom of Israel will need money for anything.