"Reid Goldsborough" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 May 2007 21:05:19 -0400, "Bruce Remick"
wrote:

I agree. There are things that can truly hurt people which are certainly
worth getting huffy over. To me, personal indignance over this IGWT
issue--
either side-- ranks way way down on the list of things that need to be
addressed, unless one simply enjoys pontificating for exercise or extra
credit.

Much of it has to do with how important an institution you regard
coinage. If it's just bits of metal used to make and spend change,
then sure, what verbiage your country puts on it is of little
consequence. But if you understand that a country's, any country's,
coinage is a statement it's sending out about itself, to its own
citizens as well as the rest of the world, then the verbiage and
imagery mean a lot. If you're a coin collector, I can't see how you
wouldn't be in the latter group, how you would regard it as
unimportant.

"In God We Trust" is on coinage because of political pandering and
inertia. It's a violation of the First Amendment, a violation of the
doctrine of the separation of church and state, an unconstitutional
commingling of national and religious affairs. It's a motto you'd
expect to see on the coinage of an Islamic theocracy, not a Western
democracy.

I understand the theory behind the arguments on both sides of the issue.
All I'm saying is that I don't feel "violated" by seeing IGWT on our coins,
our currency, or anywhere else. It's simply a traditional slogan and I
don't attach any significance to it. Our circulating coins are designed
and minted for use by US citizens. 140 years of IGWT and past presidents on
our coins apparently hasn't soured the world on us yet, and I doubt many
foreign citizens consider what is stamped on our minor coins or printed on
our bills as representing "who we are". As a collector of US coins, I
don't particularly care what's on the coins. I can understand the
rationale for removing IGWT from our coins. But it's just not something I
feel strongly about one way or another.

Bruce