‘In God We Trust’ Marks 50th Anniversary Amid Controversy

fter 50 years of appearing on the back of U.S. dollar bills, the words “In God We Trust” continue to be at the center of debate with some courts examining whether references to God in the public sphere violates the Constitution’s separation of church and state.

In Indiana, the American Civil Liberties Union is waging a legal battle over the state’s “In God We Trust” license plates, which now appear on over one third of all passenger cars statewide since its introduction at the beginning of this year, according to the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

One highly spotlighted case in 2006 involved atheist Michael Newdow, who asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to declare “In God We Trust” a violation of the First Amendment, which prohibits the establishment of a state religion. Newdow has also unsuccessfully fought to have courts strip “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance.

While some court cases don’t directly attack the four-word phrase, also the nation’s current motto, they have challenged other evocations of God that appear throughout America’s legal and education systems – from the reciting of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance to posting the Ten Commandments in courthouses.

Read more of this story on The Christian Post.